A Recent Study shows Lack of Health Care Savings on Medical Malpractice Reform
Since this was posted, Indiana lawmakers have enacted changes in Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Law. To learn more about changes that benefit Indiana’s residents, visit our blog, 2016 Update on Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act.
Many argue that one of the reasons medical costs are so high is due to fact that doctors are concerned with a potential medical malpractice lawsuit so the doctors order many medical tests, which turn out to be expensive and unnecessary, to protect themselves from liability.
A recent study by the Rand Corporation investigated three states (Texas, South Carolina and Georgia) which have all enacted medical malpractice reform laws over the past decade. The study focused on emergency room care. The analysis showed that there has been very little impact from the stricter laws on the volume or cost of emergency room care.
The argument for defensive medicine comes into play with costs and many want to find a way to deal with the subject. The study seems to find that doctors are not as concerned with a potential medical malpractice lawsuit as thought. Thus casting doubt on savings from the medical malpractice reform laws which have been enacted in the three states. Each of the states enacted the medical malpractice reform laws as a way to prevent escalating health care costs. The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The debate continues……
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