In 2003 the Texas Legislature approved House Bill 4, the most comprehensive tort reform legislation that any state has ever passed. The centerpiece of that bill was a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages for all physicians in a case, the single most effective known cure for health care lawsuit abuse. Stay abreast of the latest developments in health care tort reform.
Medical Liability Reform's Promises Kept
When an early-2003 survey showed that the lawsuit epidemic had significantly reduced sick and injured Texans’ ability to get the health care they need, the framers of the state’s medical liability reform plan promised things would be different — very different — after passage of House Bill 4 and Proposition 12. A follow-up Texas Medical Association survey released today — 10 years after HB 4 took effect and the voters approved Proposition 12 — documents that medical liability reform has kept its promises.
Tort Reform Attracts Physicians to Texas
A
decade has passed since TMA worn landmark reforms of the state's medical
liability system. The result has been more physicians practicing in Texas, thus
improving patients' access to care, and dramatically lower liability insurance
premiums for physicians. (Texas Medicine, September 2013)
Judge Upholds Prop 12 Tort Reform Caps
Caps on pain and suffering awards in health care lawsuits – part of the landmark 2003 tort reform law TMA and its allies pushed through the legislature – are constitutional, U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap ruled in March. He denied claims by 10 plaintiffs who contended the caps on noneconomic damages violated the U.S. Constitution. He also dismissed claims that a cap on damages unconstitutionally takes private property and that it bars access to the courts. (Action, April 3, 2012)
Texas Medical Liability Trust Cuts Premiums Again
For the ninth consecutive year since tort reform, the Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) is cutting its liability insurance premiums. This time, the TMLT Board of Governors approved an average 6.9-percent cut in liability premiums and an 18.5-percent dividend for renewing policyholders. (Action, Sept. 1, 2011)
Good for Patients, Good for Doctors: 2003 Tort Reforms Still Paying Off
The medical liability reforms TMA pushed through eight years ago are still paying off. Texas has more physicians, thereby increasing patients' access to care; liability insurance premiums have been drastically cut; and there are fewer lawsuits. But TMA leaders say physicians protect the reforms. (Texas Medicine, Sept. 1, 2011)
Protect Your Right to Choose
If you’re thinking about becoming employed in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) or Non-Profit Health Organization (NPHO) aka 5.01(a), are you contracting away your right to choose your health care liability insurer? Texas Medical Liablity Trust urges you to consider these possibilities and ask these questions before you sign.
Proposition 12 Produces Healthy Benefits: A Recap: 10 Years After Its Passage
Texas is attracting more new doctors than ever. The Texas Medical Board reported 3,630 newly licensed physicians for FY 2012 —the highest number ever! The board received 4,253 medical license applications, also a new record.
Physicians' liability insurance premiums have continued to drop since the passage of Proposition 12 and the state's landmark 2003 health care liability reforms. All major physician liability carriers in Texas have cut their rates since the passage of the reforms, by more than 30 percent. Texas physicians have seen their liability rates cut, on average, 46 percent. Roughly half of Texas doctors have seen their rates slashed by more than 50 percent. Cumulative liability cost savings since January 2004: $1.9 billion. Texas has added new admitted, rate-regulated carriers, more risk retention groups, captives, surplus lines and other unregulated insurers. Meanwhile, lawsuit filings in most Texas counties have been cut in half since the passage of the 2003 reforms and access to health care has improved. More...
Help Protect Tort Reform
We held them off last year, but trial lawyers and others are lining up again to attack TMA's hard-won 2003 tort reforms in the next session of the Texas Legislature. They claim the reforms aren't necessary, don't work, and are bad for Texas.
But we know they do work, and you and your patients are better off because the legislature passed the reforms and voters approved them. That's where you come in.
We need more ammunition to fire back at our critics. We need your stories. Tell us about new physicians the reforms have drawn to Texas and how they've made a difference in your community. Tell us how your patients have benefited. Your information will help TMA and our allies mount a strong defense.
Proposition 12: A Victory for Physicians and Patients
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