Malpractice Suits Are Blamed for Rising Health Care Costs/Tort Reform Is Capping Awards for Damages

Health care costs have long been a hot political topic, and many people have pointed at malpractice lawsuits as a primary cause of rising costs. For years, punitive lawsuits for pain and suffering have levied huge settlements from doctors, hospitals and their insurers. In reaction, premiums for malpractice insurance have burgeoned, growing far faster than the costs for any other type of insurance. Doctors and hospitals, in order to offset malpractice insurance premiums, may raise their own fees and conduct extensive, and often unnecessary, tests in order to protect themselves from legal claims. These factors contribute significantly to the overall cost of health care in the U.S., and a political battle has ensued, particularly between lobbyists for plaintiffs’ lawyers and lobbyists for the health care industry.

There is wide disagreement about the causes and actual yearly combined costs of malpractice insurance, litigation, lawsuit awards and defensive medical procedures and tests intended to lessen the likelihood of a malpractice lawsuit loss. A 2013 Jackson Healthcare survey found that 75% of doctors order more tests, medications and procedures than are medically necessary to protect themselves from lawsuits.

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