Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice

The past few years have seen a sharp increase in premiums for medical malpractice liability insurance, which health care professionals buy to protect themselves from the costs of being sued (see Figure 1 on page 2). On average, premiums for all physicians nationwide rose by 15 percent between 2000 and 2002—nearly twice as fast as total health care spending per person. The increases during that period were even more dramatic for certain specialties: 22 percent for obstetricians/gynecologists and 33 percent for internists and general surgeons.1 (For a definition of malpractice and other terms used in this brief, see Box 1 on page 3).