history

THE CRISIS
In the early 1970s, a medical malpractice insurance crisis gripped California. Liability premiums soared more than 300 percent because of more frequent and severe liability claims and larger malpractice jury awards. Many physicians — particularly in high-risk specialties such as obstetrics and neurosurgery — were forced to close their doors, either unable to get insurance or unable to afford inflated rates. Denied access to affordable care, California patients suffered. In 1975, Governor Jerry Brown called a special session of the California Legislature to solve the "malpractice crisis."

California's Response
During that special session, on a bi-partisan vote legislators took action to fix the broken system by enacting MICRA. Specifically, MICRA:

• Limits attorney contingency fees on a sliding scale.
• Places a $250,000 limit on non-economic damages only.
• Ensures compensation for economic damages such as present and future medical costs, lost wages, future earnings, custodial care and rehabilitation.
• Provides a statute of limitations on claims.
• Requires advance notice of a claim.
• Allows for binding arbitration to settle disputes.
• Provides for periodic payments for future damages.

MICRA's Impact

• MICRA has increased patients' access to healthcare by keeping doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers in practice and hospitals and clinics open.
• California now has some of the lowest malpractice premiums in the United States and the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) hail MICRA as a "model."
• Without MICRA the decline in the number of obstetric providers in the state will only get worse, further threatening women's access to comprehensive, quality reproductive health care.
• MICRA saves California's healthcare system billions of dollars each year.
• Injured patients receive their awards 26% sooner than patients in states without MICRA reforms.
• Patients receive the lion's share of settlements and awards — not attorneys.