Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report examines recent developments related to medical malpractice issues in seven states. Summaries appear below.

Delaware: State Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn (D) said he plans to reduce malpractice costs by creating a recruitment team to attract more malpractice insurance providers to Delaware, the Wilmington News Journal reports. In order to increase competition and reduce costs, the recruitment team -- led by former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Veasey -- will tout "Delaware's fair and expeditious legislative system, which was ranked high in several categories by the [U.S.] Chamber of Commerce," the News Journal reports. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of legislators is pushing two bills to ease the malpractice burden on doctors. One bill would create a subsidy for specialists who face the highest costs, and the other would seek to ensure that doctors who pay malpractice damages to patients report their case to the state Board of Health (Bothum, Wilmington News Journal, 4/5).

Maryland: Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) on April 1 allowed a medical liability reform bill to become law without his signature, the Baltimore Sun reports. In a letter to state Senate President Thomas Mike Miller (D), Ehrlich wrote that he did not veto the legislation, which makes technical revisions to a law enacted last December, because reform is required to ensure that malpractice insurers do not leave the state. However, he wrote that lawmakers should pass additional reforms to help control malpractice insurance premiums in the long term (Baltimore Sun, 4/2).

Massachusetts: Officials for ProMutual Group -- the largest malpractice insurer in the state -- on Monday announced that the company will not increase premium rates for physicians for the first time in six years, the Boston Globe reports. According to a statement on the ProMutual Web site, the company has experienced "improved financial strength" after new patient safety rules helped reduce the number of malpractice claims. However, ProMutual Chair Barry Manuel, a surgery professor at Boston University, said, "This will just prove to be a short respite because severity of claims continues to rise" (Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 4/5).

Missouri: The state House on Wednesday passed a bill (HB 394) that would require malpractice insurers to provide detailed premium rate information to the Missouri Department of Insurance, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. The legislation seeks to help reduce malpractice insurance premiums for physicians. Under the bill, malpractice insurers that plan to increase premium rates by more than 20% of the market rate established by the department would require approval after 2008. The legislation also would require malpractice insurers that plan to increase premium rates by more than 10% to notify policyholders at least 60 days prior to the increase. Malpractice insurers maintain that the bill, which moves to the state Senate for consideration, would not lead to reduced premium rates and would prompt insurers not to operate in the state (AP/Kansas City Star, 4/7).

New Hampshire: The state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday passed a version of a bill (SB 214) that would allow a three-member panel to review medical malpractice cases but limit how those findings could be used in court, the Manchester Union Leader reports. The panel's findings would be admissible in court only if panel members -- a judge, a doctor and a lawyer -- unanimously agreed that a case had no merit. The House version of the bill, which already has passed, gives review to a single judge. Cases found to have merit by the judge would be sent to mediation. If mediation failed, the judge's findings would not be admissible in court (Fahey, Manchester Union Leader, 4/6). State Sen. Joseph Foster (D), who wrote the final Senate version, said the Senate bill "tries to honor the jury system while screening out the most frivolous cases" (Landrigan, Nashua Telegraph, 4/6).

Oklahoma: The state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved a tort reform bill supported by Gov. Brad Henry (D) that would cap noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $300,000, regardless of the number of defendants, the Daily Oklahoman reports. State Senate Republicans, who have introduced a rival bill, oppose the legislation. State Senate Republican leader Glenn Coffee said, "I have serious doubts whether Senate Democrats will allow meaningful reform to pass in 2005, which means we'll have to be right back here next year talking about this issue again" (Greiner, Daily Oklahoman, 4/6).

South Carolina: Gov. Mark Sanford (R) on Monday signed a bill that caps noneconomic damage awards in medical malpractice cases to $350,000 and awards in cases involving multiple defendants to $1.05 million, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. The law does not implement caps in cases in which a doctor is grossly negligent, and there are no caps on economic damages (Maze, Charleston Post and Courier, 4/5). "What this bill is fundamentally about is lowering the cost of medicine," Sanford said, adding, "It's fundamentally about having medicine practiced by doctors, not by lawyers" (Smith, AP/Charlotte Observer, 4/5).

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