Capping Damages does Not Reduce Doctors' Exposure to Malpractice Claims

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently issued a new report containing state-specific data for 2003 on medical malpractice claim payments. As has been reported, the study provides data showing that, while the total dollars in paid physician medical malpractice claims more than doubled from $2.1 billion in 1991 to $4.5 billion in 2003, the number of malpractice claim payments nationwide remained relatively constant during that period (13,687 in 1991, compared with 15,287 in 2003). Also, the report noted that, since the number of practicing physicians increased during this period, the average number of malpractice claims per physician declined relatively steadily over the period, from 25 in 1991 to 19 per 1,000 non-federal physicians in 2003.

The American Bar Association has analyzed the information in the Kaiser study, including the report's new state malpractice data (available at http://www.statehealthfacts.org/r/malpractice.cfm) on the number of paid claims per 1,000 physicians in each state in 2003, the latest year for which data are available. The attached chart lists the number of claims per 1,000 active, non-federal physicians and shows whether the state had caps on noneconomic or total damage caps in 2003. This data shows the number of paid claims per 1,000 active non-federal physicians is not related to whether a state has caps on damages or not. For example, the average claims for 1,000 physicians ranged from 30.5 in Indiana to 5 in Alabama. Indiana had total damage caps in 2003. Alabama did not have caps on noneconomic or total damage caps in 2003.

Developed by the American Bar Association with the assistance of the Standing Committee on Medical Professional Liability. For questions, please contact Lillian Gaskin, Senior Legislative Counsel at 202-662-1768 or gaskinl@staff.abanet.org.

1. The report was prepared for the Foundation by Peter P. Budetti of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Teresa M. Waters of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The data are based on an analysis of 2003 claims data in the federal National Practitioner Data Bank, where federal law requires that paid claims be reported.


StateNumber of Paid Claims Per 1,000 Active, Non-Federal PhysiciansStates with Noneconomic and/or Total Damage Caps in 2003States without Noneconomic and/or Total Damage Caps in 2003
Alabama5
X
Minnesota7
X
Wisconsin8X
Maine9X
Massachusetts9X
Virginia9X
North Carolina10
X
Tennessee10
X
District of Columbia11
X
Vermont11
X
Arkansas12
X
Oregon12
X
Washington12
X
Colorado13X
Hawaii13X
Idaho13X
Maryland13X
New Hampshire13
X
Alaska14X
California14X
Illinois14
X
Missouri15X
Kansas16X
New Mexico16X
Connecticut17
X
Georgia17
X
South Carolina17
X
Iowa18
X
Ohio18
X
Oklahoma18
X
Rhode Island18
X
Utah18X
Michigan20X
Mississippi20X
Nebraska20X
New Jersey20
X
North Dakota21
X
Texas22
X
Kentucky23
X
Louisiana23X
Nevada23X
New York23
X
South Dakota23X
West Virginia23X
Arizona24
X
Wyoming25
X
Montana27X
Delaware28
X
Florida28X
Indiana30X
Pennsylvania30
X