Medical Liability Writers Fear Getting Hammered Without Tort Reforms

Plaintiffs' attorneys are stepping up their attack on medical liability tort reforms in several states and having success with the rollback of legislation in Illinois and Georgia, overturning caps on noneconomic damages, or pain and suffering. Caps allow medical professional liability insurers to set prices for coverage with a better degree of predictability. But without the caps on noneconomic damages, insurers writing in this market "will have to prepare for a possible return to excessive verdicts and settlements," according to the Insurance Information Institute.