Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
ISSN
1535-3532
Publisher
Yale Law School
Language
En-US
Abstract
Medical malpractice damage caps are among the most popular instruments of tort reform at the state level. Recently the Bush administration proposed a federal damage cap on non-economic damages to quell the rise of medical malpractice insurance premiums despite the paucity of empirical evidence demonstrating that damage caps actually decrease premiums. This Case Study argues that imposing statutory caps on medical malpractice damages is not an effective method of remedying the medical malpractice insurance crisis: therefore, policymakers should consider alternatives to damage caps. In particular, evidence suggests that implementing mandatory disclosure of the contract terms between managed care organizations and physicians for the provision of services to enrollees reduces medical malpractice insurance premiums. Policymakers interested in reducing premiums should consider implementing MCO-physician contract disclosure requirements as a means to their desired end.
Recommended Citation
Kathryn Zeiler,
Turning from Damage Caps to Information Disclosure: An Alternative to Tort Reform
,
in
5
Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics
(2005).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/557
