The Repeal of Noneconomic Damage Caps and Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums
研究发现，美国各州废除非经济损害赔偿上限会导致医疗事故保险费上涨，且最高法院判决的影响大于巡回法院，产科和普外科受影响最大。
Noneconomic damage caps are controversial because they seek to balance uncertain benefits through reductions in physician precautionary costs, against uncertain harms to patient welfare. Opposing policy actions at the state-level reflect this controversy as some states have enacted noneconomic damage caps over the past few decades while others repealed their caps. Our difference-in-differences analyses suggest that repeals increase premiums. These increases are larger after State Supreme Court decisions, affecting all cases in a state, compared with State Circuit Court decisions affecting only specific cases. Magnitudes differ by physician specialty, with larger effects observed in obstetrics/gynecology and general surgery, compared with internal medicine. Our estimates of these repeals are larger than estimates on enactments reported in the literature, suggesting a potential asymmetry between enacting and repealing damage caps.