New Mexico lawmakers vote to restore balance to medical liability system
New Mexico lawmakers have taken a major step toward stabilizing the state’s medical liability climate and preserving patient access to care.
According to Source NM, the Senate passed House Bill 99 by a decisive 40–2 vote, sending the measure to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has identified reform as a top priority in her final legislative session and is expected to sign the bill.
HB 99 addresses a worsening physician shortage, with lawmakers working in a bipartisan manner on a compromise designed to improve the practice environment across the state while ensuring the system works for patients.
The bill creates reasonable hurdles for filing punitive damage claims, which in most states are rarely applicable to medical liability cases but historically been claimed in almost all filings. In those limited circumstances when such damages are actually appropriate in medical liability cases, punitive damages would be capped at approximately $900,000 for independent physicians, $1 million for independent outpatient clinics, and $6 million for locally owned hospitals. Larger hospital systems and their affiliated outpatient facilities would be subject to higher thresholds. The bill also requires medical damages to be based on actual amounts paid for such services and reforms aspects of the state’s patient compensation fund.
As advocacy group Think New Mexico stated after passage, the legislation “directly addresses the primary reason why so many doctors are considering leaving New Mexico or retiring early: our unbalanced medical malpractice laws.” The group added that passage of the bill “gives them a reason to stay.”
Supporters across the state say they worked towards predictable, balanced medical liability rules as a foundational step toward retaining physicians and restoring confidence in New Mexico’s health care system.
To read more about House Bill 99 and how proven medical liability reforms can protect both patients and providers across rural New Mexico, click here.
Liability reforms found to deliver hospital savings
A new peer-reviewed study finds measurable cost savings at the hospital level following the passage of comprehensive medical liability reforms.
Researchers from Georgia State University and Michigan State University analyzed more than 55,000 hospital-year observations from 1996 to 2018, examining how state laws placing reasonable limits on noneconomic damages affect hospital operations. Their findings, published in Production and Operations Management, show clear reductions in defensive medicine and overall operating costs following reform.
After liability reforms were enacted, hospitals spent $372 less per patient on defensive medicine — roughly $2.38 million in annual savings for an average facility. Operating costs declined by $664 per patient, or approximately $4.23 million per hospital each year. Hospitals also streamlined staffing per bed, signaling improved operational efficiency.
“For an average-size hospital, these are significant savings, considering most hospitals are operating in the red,” said co-author Deepa Goradia.
While the study observed modest declines in certain patient experience metrics, researchers emphasized this “doesn’t necessarily mean they are getting less quality care.”
“Hospitals with tort reform may be able to better retain departments that had previously been prone to liability lawsuits or to performing more high-risk surgeries, which could reduce health care disparities and improve overall health care access to patients,” Goradia stated.
At a time when hospitals face rising costs and workforce shortages, data shows that reforms reduce unnecessary spending and strengthen health care systems across the country.
To read the full study and explore the findings in greater detail, click here.
Targeted liability fix gains ground in Kentucky
Despite longstanding constitutional limits on tort reform, Kentucky lawmakers are advancing a narrowly tailored bill aimed at making incremental improvements to the commonwealth’s tort system, including reforms to maintain affordable and accessible care for patients across the state.
Recently introduced Senate Bill 195 avoids damage limits — which Kentucky’s Constitution explicitly prohibits — and instead focuses on improvements that reduce medical lawsuit abuse and ensure that cases move more efficiently through the court system.
Backed by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, insurers, and hospital groups, the legislation adjusts comparative fault standards, clarifies how damages are calculated, and establishes clearer filing requirements for claims. Supporters say the bill is intentionally crafted to respect constitutional protections for plaintiffs while modernizing how cases proceed through the courts.
“This bill makes targeted, statutory updates to improve consistency and efficiency while not capping damages and not limiting access to the courts,” said Chamber spokeswoman Sawyer Coffey Noel.
Rather than attempting sweeping structural changes that courts have rejected in the past, lawmakers appear to be pursuing a more measured path. SB 195 would strengthen guardrails within the system without alterning a plaintiff’s right to recover damages.
Click here to read more about the newly revived efforts to bring greater predictability to the legal environment while preserving access to care – and justice.