Advancing and Protecting Medical Liability Reforms

Since the enactment of a spate of reforms during the last major medical liability crisis at the turn of the century, healthcare advocates have been in a defensive posture to protect those reforms. Following the pandemic, we have had an even more tenuous grip on those hard-won reforms. But in 2025, the winds have shifted ever so slightly, and we have been able to pursue some rare opportunities to enact new reforms in several states and successfully defend against erosion of reforms in others.

TDC Group leads the industry with a dedicated, award-winning Government Relations team and the only medical liability advocacy program covering all 50 states and the federal government. Our in-house team has been actively advocating on behalf of medical professionals in the U.S. since our founding in 1976.

Most other medical professional liability (MPL) insurers do not engage in legislative advocacy at all or have one staff member who works in claims or the legal department that can only dedicate part of their time to government relations work. Our Government Relations team is solely committed to legislative, regulatory, and judicial advocacy on a full-time basis. In addition to our dedicated in-house team, Government Relations engages on-the-ground legislative advocates across the country and in Washington, DC.

With more than 160,000 bills introduced each year in state and federal legislatures, our team constantly monitors legislation that impacts our members and clients and advocates on their behalf. More than 30 states have enacted medical liability reform laws to promote access to healthcare; however, these laws are constantly under attack. Our team works continuously at the legislative level to counter such threats—as well as to enact new reforms.

Here's a look at some of our recent advocacy successes around the country in the first quarter of 2025, and an in-depth perspective on the unique legislative environments in Georgia and New York.

Recent Advocacy Successes

• Arkansas HB 1204: Truth in Damages. This bill limits the recovery of medical damages in tort claims to the amount of damages actually paid as opposed to what was billed. TDC Group supported this legislation, and it has been signed by the Governor.
• Montana HB 195: Noneconomic Damages Cap. After working for more than a year with a large and diverse coalition of healthcare interests in Montana, we were successful in passing proactive legislation in response to threats from personal injury lawyers to eliminate the cap at the ballot box and declare the noneconomic damage cap unconstitutional in the courts. This bill, HB 195, changes the noneconomic damages cap in medical malpractices cases from $250,000 to $500,000 over five years, with a 2 percent inflator thereafter. We also supported a companion bill, HB 458, that provides physician assistants with the state’s medical liability protections for the first time.
• Montana HB 342: Standard of Care. TDC Group worked with the healthcare coalition to enact this bill, which is intended to reverse an unfavorable court decision that established a heightened duty of care in medical malpractice cases when there is a foreseeability of catastrophic harm.
• North Dakota HB 1349: Noneconomic Damages Cap. Working with a coalition, we successfully defeated this legislation that would have increased the cap on noneconomic damages from $500,000 to $3,000,000.
• Utah Medical Liability Damages. Legislation (HB 288) was introduced and would have more than doubled the state’s cap on noneconomic damages as well as detrimentally change other medical liability reforms. TDC Group successfully worked with other interested parties to defeat this bill and advocate for a counter proposal to improve the litigation environment for healthcare practitioners. The counter proposal, HB 503, retained the state’s $450,000 cap on noneconomic damages, as well as reinstated an annual inflation adjustment. It implemented an anti-anchoring provision, a truth-in-damages provision, and a provision protecting a healthcare practitioner’s personal assets from a judgment by a plaintiff unless the practitioner acted in a willful, malicious, or deliberately fraudulent manner. The bill also made changes to the prelitigation review panel process and implemented a provision that would allow defendants to collect attorneys’ fees in specific instances. Protection under this provision requires the healthcare practitioner to maintain a $1 million medical professional liability policy. These new medical liability reforms were signed into law on March 27, 2025.
• Virginia SB 904: Medical Liability Damages Cap. TDC Group successfully lobbied against this legislation that would have eliminated the total cap on damages in medical malpractice cases involving patients 10 years old or younger. Several other bills that would have significant detrimental impact on Virginia healthcare providers and their patients’ access to healthcare were defeated or favorably amended to ameliorate their impact.

Legislative Overview: Georgia

When it comes to medical liability and nuclear verdicts, few states fare worse than the state of Georgia. Last year, the American Tort Reform Association ranked Georgia as the fourth-worst state for litigation in the nation, and it took home the top ranking in 2022 for issues like skyrocketing nuclear verdicts and inflated awards for medical costs.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and the state legislature brought some much-needed relief to physicians and those in the healthcare community who are targeted by medical liability lawsuits. He strongly supported SB 68, which implements comprehensive medical liability reforms, including an anti-anchoring provision, trial bifurcation, truth-in-damages provisions, and venue changes. All these provisions will better protect clinicians and access to healthcare.

The Governor also supported SB 69, the “Georgia Civil Practice Act,” which would limit third-party litigation funding from venture capitalists. While using third-party litigation as an investment vehicle may sound questionable and risky, venture capital firms are getting better at recognizing “winners” and pooling investments to make money on these lawsuits.

SB 69 adds much-needed transparency about third-party litigation financing and ensures that any medical malpractice lawsuits are litigated in the best interest of the plaintiff or patient, not a venture capital group.

TDC Group actively advocated for these measures and directly educated lawmakers in Georgia about the need for these protections in the face of social inflation and excessive jury verdicts that put access to healthcare for Georgians at risk. TDC Group provided significant funding to the coalition advocating for these reforms in addition to directly engaging with legislators. Governor Kemp signed both bills into law on April 20, 2025.

Legislative Overview: New York

The legislative environment in New York can be a challenge for the healthcare community. While there is a heavy focus on public health and innovation, high costs and inequities in healthcare access make the state a difficult environment for healthcare providers. This has led to consistently poor rankings for New York physician retention due to high medical liability costs and excessive regulation. TDC Group is working through the legislative process to stabilize access to care and ensure physicians can practice medicine without the fear of unnecessary litigation or legal action.

One main policy TDC Group is opposing is not new. The latest version of the Grieving Families Act (SB 4423 / AB 6063) expands the pool of beneficiaries and categories of recoverable damages in wrongful death claims. This is the fourth year in a row this bill has been brought forward after not being successful in the first three attempts. Another bill, SB 3888 / AB 5379, would change how the awarding of damages is determined in court, prohibiting reductions based on key determining factors.

We are supporting two pieces of legislation as well. AB 2305 / SB 1608 sets a $250,000 cap for noneconomic damages in dental, medical, and podiatric malpractice actions and mandates a certificate of merit. In addition, awards for future pain and suffering in excess of $500,000 would be paid in a structured stream of payments. Another bill, SB 4225, reduces the statute of limitations for medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice claims from 2.5 years to 1 year if the defendant is a hospital. If enacted, both bills will again ensure physicians are protected and can focus on delivering the best care to their patients.

Keep up to date on TDC Group’s advocacy efforts and legislation we are tracking in your state by visiting thedoctors.com/advocacy or email the Government Relations team at advocacy@thedoctors.com.

---

The Doctor’s Advocate is published by The Doctors Company to advise and inform its members about loss prevention and insurance issues.

The guidelines suggested in this newsletter are not rules, do not constitute legal advice, and do not ensure a successful outcome. They attempt to define principles of practice for providing appropriate care. The principles are not inclusive of all proper methods of care nor exclusive of other methods reasonably directed at obtaining the same results.

The ultimate decision regarding the appropriateness of any treatment must be made by each healthcare provider considering the circumstances of the individual situation and in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the care is rendered.

The Doctor’s Advocate is published quarterly by Corporate Communications, The Doctors Company. Letters and articles, to be edited and published at the editor’s discretion, are welcome. The views expressed are those of the letter writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or official policy of The Doctors Company. Please sign your letters, and address them to the editor.