Profession
Study: Caps equal lower premiums
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 2, 2007
Caps on noneconomic damages in medical liability cases translate into lower premiums for doctors, according to two Alabama universities' analysis of studies done on rates.
But researchers found no evidence that the award limits reduce patients' health care costs.
The review out of Samford University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined several studies done over the past 17 years.
One 1990 study looked at 12 years of data and showed that damage caps reduced premiums for family physicians, general surgeons and ob-gyns by 13%, 14% and 17%, respectively, in the short run. The reduction was 40% to 58% in the long run.
A more recent study of data between 1994 and 2003 found that premium increases in states with caps were 5.7% less than those in states without the award limits.
Study authors also observed "small to modest effects" of caps in reducing defensive medicine and increasing physician supply.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/07/02/prbf0702.htm.