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Can Contingency Fee Reforms Improve Maternal & Infant Health? Evidence from Nevada

Can Contingency Fee Reforms Improve Maternal & Infant Health? Evidence from Nevada AbstractContingency fee laws are intended to reduce the amount of defensive medicine practiced by physicians, but their impact on such behavior is theoretically ambiguous. While nearly half of all states have adopted some type of contingency fee laws, very little empirical evidence exists with respect to related impacts, and no rigorous studies examine their potential impacts on health. We examine the impact of a particular contingency fee reform that occurred in Nevada in 2004 using synthetic control methods. Consistent with our expectations, we find a systematic increase in the C-section rate of less-educated mothers in Nevada after implementation of the reform. However, we find no systematic effect on infant mortality, suggesting that contingency reforms contribute to an increase in defensive medicine without a corresponding improvement in health. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy de Gruyter

Can Contingency Fee Reforms Improve Maternal & Infant Health? Evidence from Nevada

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
ISSN
1935-1682
eISSN
1935-1682
DOI
10.1515/bejeap-2020-0439
Publisher site
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Abstract

AbstractContingency fee laws are intended to reduce the amount of defensive medicine practiced by physicians, but their impact on such behavior is theoretically ambiguous. While nearly half of all states have adopted some type of contingency fee laws, very little empirical evidence exists with respect to related impacts, and no rigorous studies examine their potential impacts on health. We examine the impact of a particular contingency fee reform that occurred in Nevada in 2004 using synthetic control methods. Consistent with our expectations, we find a systematic increase in the C-section rate of less-educated mothers in Nevada after implementation of the reform. However, we find no systematic effect on infant mortality, suggesting that contingency reforms contribute to an increase in defensive medicine without a corresponding improvement in health.

Journal

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy – de Gruyter

Published: Oct 28, 2021

Keywords: defensive medicine; C-section; infant mortality; contingency fee; tort reform; medical malpractice; I10; I18; K13

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