The net effects of medical malpractice tort reform on health insurance losses: the Texas experience

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the influence of medical malpractice tort reform on the level of private health insurance company losses incurred. We employ a natural experiment framework centered on a series of tort reform measures enacted in Texas in 2003 that drastically altered the medical malpractice environment in the state. The results of a difference-in-differences analysis using a variety of comparison states, as well as a difference-in-difference-in-differences analysis, indicate that ameliorating medical malpractice risk has little effect on health insurance losses incurred by private health insurers.

Do noneconomic damage caps reduce medical malpractice insurance premiums? Evidence from North Carolina

“…Second, our analysis is limited to North Carolina. It is common in this literature to study the experience of just one state at a time with the benefits of isolating the effect of a specific policy (Born et al, 2017; Hyman et al 2015). This study follows in that tradition.…”

The Effect of Tort Reform on Medical Malpractice Insurance Market Trends

“…Another particularly well‐developed area of this literature also considers the influence of tort reform measures on physician behavior and health‐care costs, though evidence on the subject is mixed. Some studies find that tort reforms influence physician behavior in ways that reduce health‐care costs (e.g., Kessler & McClellan ) while other studies cast doubt on tort reforms’ ability to reduced defensive medicine costs (e.g., Sloan & Shadle ; Paik et al ; Born et al ). For example, Paik et al () find no evidence that Medicare spending declined in Texas after tort reform was enacted.…”