Tort reform may finally be having an impact

Are non-economic caps starting to make a difference?

An article from the Associated Press reports that, at least in Florida, there was an 8% decrease in malpractice premiums for physicians. Let’s see, double the premiums a couple of times over the last few decades and then take 8% off of that, and you get….Well, at least it’s a start. Incidentally, what the AP got wrong in their story is that the cap was not on lawsuits and lawyers’ contingency fees but just on non-economic damages.Part of the problem in the medical tort reform debate is misinformation on both sides. Many attorneys I know are told by their ‘experts’ that the main culprit is the insurance industry which is gouging doctors. Our carrier is actually a mutual company run by physicians and one of about four insurance carriers that did not leave the State of Florida out of over 20 companies. I guess the stress of making so much money off of physicians was too much for those scoundrels to bear.