In health care, as in everything else, money matters. Of course, money is not the only thing that matters, but it matters a lot - perhaps more than all other factors combined. What we pay for and how we pay for it profoundly affect the care that is provided (and not provided), the settings in...

In health care, as in everything else, money matters. Of course, money is not the only thing that matters - but it matters a lot - perhaps more than all the other factors combined. What we pay for and how we pay for it profoundly affects the quality and availability of the care that is provided...

In a prior article in this journal, we estimated the effect of an “O'Connell” early settlement offer program on payouts in medical malpractice litigation. Using Texas data and a base set of assumptions, we predicted that early offers would result in a 16% (20%) decline in payouts in...

In spring, 2006, Massachusetts enacted legislation to ensure universal health insurance coverage to all residents. The legislation was a hybrid of ideas from across the political spectrum, promoted by a moderately-conservative Republican governor with national political aspirations, and enacted...

Native advertising, which matches the look and feel of unpaid news and editorials, has exploded online. The Federal Trade Commission has long required advertising to be clearly and conspicuously labeled, and it recently reiterated that these requirements apply to native advertising. We explore...

Using claim-level data, we estimate the effect of Texas's 2003 cap on non-economic damages on jury verdicts, post-verdict payouts, and settlements in medical malpractice cases closed during 1988-2004. For pro-plaintiff jury verdicts, the cap affects 47 percent of verdicts, and reduces mean...

Many physicians and tort reform advocates believe that most medical malpractice (“med mal”) claims are “frivolous”; they often rely on reports that only about 20% of claims result in a payout. Many physicians and reform advocates also believe that plaintiffs lawyers often sue every...

The conventional wisdom is that the FTC was the governmental equivalent of a leper colony prior to 1969, and its credibility and reputation were restored only by the adoption of the wise recommendations in the 1969 ABA Report. There is no question that the FTC deserves plenty of criticism for...

In prior research, we found that policy limits in Texas medical malpractice (“med mal”) cases often served as de facto caps on recoveries in both tried and settled cases. We also found that physicians faced little personal exposure on malpractice claims. Out-of-pocket payments (OOPPs) by...

Nine states adopted caps on non-economic damages during the third medical malpractice reform wave from 2002-2005, joining twenty-two other states with caps on non-economic or total damages. We study the effects of these reforms on physician supply. Across a variety of difference-in-differences...