With Congress and the Bush administration considering national medical malpractice reform in the near future, it is important to examine what state-level experiments in reform have achieved. Jonathan Klick of the AEI Liability Project and Kathryn Zeiler of Georgetown University Law Center will discuss their recent research on the various aspects of malpractice reform at the state level. Their use of empirical methods to assess the merits of liability reform--in this case, malpractice reform--provides new insights into the impact of health legislation.

Klick will examine the effects of reforms on the choice of location by doctors and on patients’ health. Zeiler will look at the effects of existing laws—requiring managed care organizations to disclose the provisions of their contracts with physicians—on the level of medical care provided and on subsequent litigation rates.