Louisiana has a $500,000 statuatory cap on Medical Malpractice claims awards, which cases must, incidentally, be submitted to a standards-of-care review committee before they can even be filed. If the would-be plaintiff(s) are granted the permission to file suit, ONLY up to the first $100,000 is payable by the provider(s) made defendant in the case. The excess amount above $100,000, if any, comes from the LA Patient Compensation Fund, contributed to by insurance entities licensed in the State. Since defense costs for Med Mal would likely exceed the defendant’s maximum $100,000 share of the exposure, the insurer will commonly fold their cards and write the check, which leaves the merits of the case, in effect, unanswered, and leaves the State only able to argue quantum, and not liability. Most importantly, Louisiana’s Med Mal Insurance premiums EQUAL those of their neighboring states that HAVE NO SUCH LIMITS on liability.
Do we really expect a bunch of lawyers to cap the limit of recovery and thereby restrict the fees that their brothers of the bar collect? Lawyers are mecernaries whether plaintiff attorneys or defense attorneys. The longer the case drags on, the more the defense attorneys can bill the insurance companies. All lawyers in the legislature should recuse themselves from voting on it. Never happen!
the majority of the states do have caps in place. The average caps range from 250,000 to 500,000. Texas has become the model of tort reform with the passing of prop 12. There are a number of other states besides Georgia that have had the reform over turned, including Illinois. You can read more about each individual state their tort reform at http:// http://www.equotedmd.com
Louisiana has a $500,000 statuatory cap on Medical Malpractice claims awards, which cases must, incidentally, be submitted to a standards-of-care review committee before they can even be filed. If the would-be plaintiff(s) are granted the permission to file suit, ONLY up to the first $100,000 is payable by the provider(s) made defendant in the case. The excess amount above $100,000, if any, comes from the LA Patient Compensation Fund, contributed to by insurance entities licensed in the State. Since defense costs for Med Mal would likely exceed the defendant’s maximum $100,000 share of the exposure, the insurer will commonly fold their cards and write the check, which leaves the merits of the case, in effect, unanswered, and leaves the State only able to argue quantum, and not liability. Most importantly, Louisiana’s Med Mal Insurance premiums EQUAL those of their neighboring states that HAVE NO SUCH LIMITS on liability.
Do we really expect a bunch of lawyers to cap the limit of recovery and thereby restrict the fees that their brothers of the bar collect? Lawyers are mecernaries whether plaintiff attorneys or defense attorneys. The longer the case drags on, the more the defense attorneys can bill the insurance companies. All lawyers in the legislature should recuse themselves from voting on it. Never happen!
the majority of the states do have caps in place. The average caps range from 250,000 to 500,000. Texas has become the model of tort reform with the passing of prop 12. There are a number of other states besides Georgia that have had the reform over turned, including Illinois. You can read more about each individual state their tort reform at http:// http://www.equotedmd.com
What can we learn about medical professional liability from prior economic downturns? http://www.healthcaretownhall.com/?p=3296