Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/76826
SPECIAL FEATURE The Route to REFORM IN A TIME WHEN REINING IN SPIRALING HEALTH CARE COSTS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO DO SO — ENACTING MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL — SEEMS UNLIKELY, AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM. THE BEST HOPE FOR MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM MAY LIE IN EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN BY THE STATES. T0 Q GRASP THE SCALE of the medical liability problem, one needs only to consider the numbers. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), 61% of physicians age 55 and older have faced at least one lawsuit during their careers, while nine out of 10 surgeons in the same demographic have been sued at least once during their professional lifetimes. The organization recently reported that the average cost of defending a physician against a medical liability suit had surpassed $47,000 in 2010, despite nearly two-thirds of all claims never reaching a jury's decision. Paying for medical liability insurance can be a signifi cant burden on physicians, as the AMA reports approximately 5% of these premiums increased by more than 10% in 2010. The AMA estimates that enacting medical liability reform this year would gradually trim $62.4 billion from the federal defi cit by 2021. MD News recently spoke with Christian Shalgian, Director of the Division of Advocacy and Health Policy at the American College of Surgeons (ACS), about current medical liability reform efforts and where he sees them going. Why is medical liability reform an important issue for the future of health care? A: One of the major components of rising health care costs is the increasing cost of medical liability insurance. Some states have demonstrated that these costs can be controlled if reasonable medical liability reform measures are put in place. California got the ball rolling with its Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) of 1975, which, in addition to other medical liability reform measures, instituted a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages. Recently, Texas had major problems with sky-high medical liability insurance premiums. When it enacted 12 | Mid Hudson MD NEWS ■ MDNEWS.COM