No-fault Medical Liability Reform In The United States: Institutional Origin And Legal Revelation

The United States health care system was hit by three malpractice insurance crises in die mid-1970s, the mid-1980s,and die early 2000s. These crises highlighted die challenges created by die upward spiral of malpractice claims and liability insurance premiums. The following negative effects were disproportionately experienced by both sides of die healdi care system. On die health care providers'side, die unbearable liability insurance-not to mention its unavailability-forced diem withdraw from local medical services.So it was not surprising that the providers who tried to avoid threats of suit took defensive behaviors to protect themselves. The cost of such behaviors was the decline in quality of medical services.On die patients'side, it was ironic that both costs of malpractice insurance and defensive medicine were ultimately passed along to them as the price of treatment.In die United States, since die first perceived malpractice crisis of die mid-1970s,tort law has become die target of public criticism.The idea of tort reform has floated in die debates.As a result, a wide variety of constraints on die tort system for medical injury compensation were enacted by legislatures from states. After three decades of tort reforms,die problems have still concentrated in these issues such as the system's ability to promote high quality health care and promote compensation for patients.It was natural that die idea of no-fault medical liability would be floated in die debates about die medical liability system reform.The no-fault liability reform has one essential goal:as legal reform,it seeks to improve upon die injury resolution of tort liability by replacing die existing fault-based tort system widi a new non-tort regime. Significant improvements are sought in broadening eligibility for compensation, promoting high quality health care, reducing administrative cost of tort law, and resolving doctor-patient conflicts. The basis of die article is such that the radical crisis and reforms of the medical liability conundrum in die past half century. The no-fault alternative presents a rich reference of empirical data and conceptual insights for facilitating pushing medical liability system reform in contemporary China.