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Tort Reform and the Demand for Medical Care: Evidence from State-by-State Variation in Non-Economic Damages Caps

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  • Anca Cotet

    (Department of Economics, Ball State University)

Abstract

Previous literature indicates that non-economic damages caps increase the number of physicians but finds no significant effect on health. A potential explanation is that, by reducing the cost of malpractice, caps affect physicians’ incentives to provide high quality care, an important determinant of the demand of medical care. Using county level panel data this paper finds that caps adoption leads to a 4 percents decrease in surgeries, a 2 percent decrease in hospital admissions but has no significant effect on emergency care, outpatient visits, birth rates, or prenatal care conditional on births. There is also evidence of increase use of physicians located across the border. Taken together these results provide suggestive evidence of a decrease in demand leading to a net negative effect on utilization rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Anca Cotet, 2009. "Tort Reform and the Demand for Medical Care: Evidence from State-by-State Variation in Non-Economic Damages Caps," Working Papers 200901, Ball State University, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:bsu:wpaper:200901
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    File URL: http://econfac.bsu.edu/research/workingpapers/bsuecwp200901r1cotet.pdf
    File Function: Second version, March 2010
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Malpractice; Non-economic damages; Patients; Medical Care Delivered;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • K13 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Tort Law and Product Liability; Forensic Economics
    • D00 - Microeconomics - - General - - - General

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