Question of the Month
December
2004
What
limits do states in the Midwest have on awards for non-economic
damages in medical malpractice cases?
According to the American Medical
Association, more than half of the U.S. states cap non-economic
damages, including six in the Midwest — Kansas, Michigan,
North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Statutes in Indiana and Nebraska place caps on total
damages.
Indiana restricts medical liability
damage awards to $1.25 million for acts that occurred after July 1,
1999. Awards for incidents prior to that date are capped at $750,000.
Health care providers are not liable for more than $250,000 per
occurrence, as awards exceeding that amount are paid out of a special
patient compensation fund.
In Nebraska, total damage awards are
limited to $1.75 million. For providers who carry minimum levels of
liability insurance and pay a surcharge to an excess coverage fund,
liability in malpractice cases cannot exceed $200,000. Damages above
that amount are paid by the excess coverage fund.
Michigan’s caps on non-economic
damages are two-tiered, one for "ordinary" medical
malpractice cases and a higher tier for cases involving specified
severe injuries (brain or spinal cord damage, impairment to the
reproductive system that specifically precludes procreation, or an
injury that prevents a person from being able to live alone). The two
limits, originally set at $280,000 and $500,000, are adjusted annually
to account for inflation.
Ohio limits a plaintiff’s
non-economic damages to $350,000 in most medical malpractice cases and
$500,000 in certain severe injury cases. Here are the caps for
non-economic awards in the other Midwestern states: Kansas, $250,000;
North Dakota, $500,000; South Dakota, $500,000; and Wisconsin,
$350,000 (indexed annually for inflation).
These caps often have been challenged
in state courts. In the Midwest, for example, Illinois’
previous limits on both total damages and non-economic awards were
ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. The laws in Kansas
and Wisconsin have withstood past court challenges. In South Dakota, a
cap on total damages was struck down, and in Ohio, the state Supreme
Court overturned a previous cap on non-economic damages.
For
more information on this or any other public policy issue, please call
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