Medical malpractice reform: noneconomic damages caps reduced payments 15 percent, with varied effects by specialty.

The impact of medical malpractice reforms on the average size of malpractice payments in specific physician specialties is unknown and subject to debate. We analyzed a national sample of malpractice claims for the period 1985-2010, merged with information on state liability reforms, to estimate the impact of state noneconomic damages caps on average malpractice payment size for physicians overall and for ten different specialty categories. We then compared how the effects differed according to the restrictiveness of the cap ($250,000 versus $500,000).

Medicaid prior authorization policies and imprisonment among patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: To examine the impact of Medicaid prior authorization for atypical antipsychotics on the prevalence of schizophrenia among the prison population. Study

Design: We collected drug-level information on prior authorization restrictions from Medicaid programs in 30 states to determine which states had prior authorization requirements before 2004. We linked the regulatory data to a survey of prison inmates conducted in 2004.

Recovery Under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act: Impact of Reporting Thresholds.

Effective January 1, 2012, Medicare will require insurers and self-insured companies to report settlements, awards, and judgments that involve a Medicare beneficiary to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In the first year of the law's implementation, claims resolved for less than $5,000 will be exempt from the reporting requirement. In the second year, the threshold for reporting will fall to $2,000 and then $600.