Gov. Perry: Historic Medical Liability Reform Helping Doctors, Patients

A year ago, Texas was in the midst of a healthcare crisis that, without major reforms, threatened to jeopardize our access to quality, life-saving healthcare. Doctors across the state were limiting and, in some cases, closing their practices because they could no longer afford liability insurance. Many expectant mothers were driving long distances to find an obstetrician to provide pre-natal care and deliver their newborns. A hospital in Port Arthur even had to cancel about a dozen surgeries when insurance policies for its anesthesiologists were canceled. High-risk communities were losing neurosurgeons, general surgeons and other specialists. And hospitals were experiencing huge liability increases, culminating with an increase of more than 50 percent in 2003.

It was a catastrophe in the making, brought on in large part because of a predatory legal climate that provided incentives for the filing of frivolous lawsuits aimed at striking it rich in what amounted to a lawsuit lottery. A year later, because of major reforms to medical liability laws that I worked with legislators to enact and that were approved by voters, healthcare is on the mend, patient access is improving, insurance costs for hospitals are down by 17 percent, and lawsuits against doctors and hospitals have dropped precipitously.

Texas has already become a model for the nation. Today, a doctor in a malpractice case is liable for no more than $250,000 in non-economic damages, such as the often ambiguous “pain and suffering” award. Total liability for non-economic damages for a specific incident, including hospitals, cannot exceed $750,000. Patients harmed by medical negligence maintain unlimited access to economic damages, like lost wages or medical expenses.

A few years ago, 13 of the 17 physician liability insurance providers had left the state, leaving thousands of doctors scrambling to find coverage. But since the adoption of our groundbreaking lawsuit reforms, 10 new carriers have sought entry into the Texas medical liability market. Doctors insured by the largest carrier, the Texas Medical Liability Trust, have already benefited from a 12 percent reduction in rates, and once the courts are unclogged of the last-minute lawsuits filed in 2003, rates for many more doctors are expected to decline.

Since passing liability reform, Texas has added at least 82 obstetricians, including two in Fredericksburg who had stopped delivering babies because of the lawsuit crisis, and 16 in the Austin area, which had lost the same number in the preceding two and a half years. Corpus Christi has experienced a net gain of nearly three dozen physicians, including a long-awaited neurosurgeon and several pediatric specialists. In Beaumont, four new anesthesiologists have started practicing. And doctors are returning to the medically underserved Rio Grande Valley where hospital are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on rates, and two new pediatric specialty clinics are being constructed.

We are hearing similar reports from every corner of Texas. That means more patients with critical needs can receive treatment within minutes right in their hometown instead of traveling hours to another city.

Hospitals are benefiting as well and expanding access and improving the quality of care for patients. Christus Health, which operates hospitals across the state, is redirecting a portion of the $20.5 million it expects to save on liability costs in the coming year to patient services, patient safety programs, and an expansion of its already high level of charity care. Rural hospitals in West and North Texas are capitalizing on liability savings to attract critically needed general surgeons and emergency care physicians. And the 35 hospitals and 23 surgery centers operated in Texas by the Hospital Corporation of America will use a projected $28 million in liability savings to develop a high-tech safety system to ensure patients get the right dose of the right medication at the right time.

Medical liability reform is giving patients greater access to healthcare and improving the quality of care Texans receive.

Today, more Texas doctors have peace of mind that the good they do in the examination room will not be unfairly targeted in the courtroom. And with a year’s worth of hindsight, there is no doubt that medical liability reform was the right prescription for the people of Texas.