The New York Times today reports that more doctors are moving to Texas after the adoption of medical malpractice caps a couple of years ago:
Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas.
The influx, raising the state’s abysmally low ranking in physicians per capita, has flooded the medical board’s offices in Austin with applications for licenses, close to 2,500 at last count.
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“Doctors are coming to Texas because they sense a friendlier malpractice climate,” he said.
I was surprised to see that the most new licensure applications to Texas came from obstetricians. In Florida, where I practice law, most obstetricians are un-insured and asset protected (to the best of their abilities). I was also surprised to see so many applicants from Florida, a jurisdiction that has its own caps on non-economic damages in place, and no state income tax.
Posted by: Howard Citron | November 15, 2007 at 07:20 AM