Medical providers, their professional associations, and lobbyists often claim that limiting recoveries in malpractice lawsuits will lower healthcare costs. This is called tort reform, or as some of us like to refer to it, tort deform.
In 2004, Ohio passed a law limiting verdicts for pain and suffering to $250,000 except in catastrophic cases, restricting punitive damages and making it harder to take a case to trial. Healthcare costs have continued to increase there despite this legislation. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, by 2008 the average family healthcare premiums were $11,425, an increase of 19%.
Neighboring Kentucky, on the other hand, did not enact similar legislation. Nevertheless, Ohio’s increase in healthcare costs were greater than the increase in healthcare costs in Kentucky.
Pennsylvania, so far, has not enacted this type of legislation. Let’s hope that the Pennsylvania legislature continues to protect victim’s rights in bringing lawsuits for fair compensation.
