Morrisey Michael A, Kilgore Meredith L, Nelson Leonard Jack
Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35243-0022, USA.
Health Serv Res. 2008 Dec;43(6):2124-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2008.00869.x. Epub 2008 Jun 3.
Tort reform may affect health insurance premiums both by reducing medical malpractice premiums and by reducing the extent of defensive medicine. The objective of this study is to estimate the effects of noneconomic damage caps on the premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance.
DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Employer premium data and plan/establishment characteristics were obtained from the 1999 through 2004 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Insurance Surveys. Damage caps were obtained and dated based on state annotated codes, statutes, and judicial decisions.
Fixed effects regression models were run to estimate the effects of the size of inflation-adjusted damage caps on the weighted average single premiums.
DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: State tort reform laws were identified using Westlaw, LEXIS, and statutory compilations. Legislative repeal and amendment of statutes and court decisions resulting in the overturning or repealing state statutes were also identified using LEXIS.
Using a variety of empirical specifications, there was no statistically significant evidence that noneconomic damage caps exerted any meaningful influence on the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance.
The findings suggest that tort reforms have not translated into insurance savings.
侵权法改革可能通过降低医疗事故保险费以及减少防御性医疗行为的程度来影响医疗保险费。本研究的目的是估计非经济损害赔偿限额对雇主赞助的医疗保险费的影响。
数据来源/研究背景：雇主保险费数据以及计划/机构特征取自1999年至2004年凯撒/医疗保健研究与教育信托基金雇主医疗保险调查。损害赔偿限额是根据各州注释法典、法规和司法判决获取并确定日期的。
运行固定效应回归模型，以估计经通胀调整后的损害赔偿限额规模对加权平均单人保险费的影响。
数据收集/提取方法：利用Westlaw、LEXIS和法规汇编确定各州侵权法改革法律。还利用LEXIS确定导致州法规被推翻或废除的法规立法废除和修订以及法院判决。
采用各种实证规范，没有统计学上的显著证据表明非经济损害赔偿限额对雇主赞助的医疗保险成本产生任何有意义的影响。
研究结果表明侵权法改革并未转化为保险费用节省。
