When medical liability reform was proposed in Texas in 2002, promises were made to patients that the system would be reformed to provide greater access to quality medical care for all.

In 2002, Governor Rick Perry stated that he was committed to ending the medical liability crisis, by “reigning in abusive lawsuits, improving patient protections and reforming insurance regulations—to ensure patients have access to the best care possible.”

Key points from a special report by the Texas Civil Justice League, “Liability Caps Deliver Increased Access to Health Care,” show just how well those promises were kept.

In 2001 Texas issued new licenses to just over 2,000 physicians, the lowest number in the prior ten years. By contrast, in 2008 Texas licensed more than 3,600—the highest number in its history—and since passage of the medical liability reforms in 2003, more than 21,640 new physicians have successfully sought and received licenses to practice in the state.

In the Rio Grande Valley, more than 220 new physicians have opened practices, many in critical medical specialties hardest hit by the liability crisis. Doctors are also flocking back to counties such as Victoria, Nueces, and Jefferson along the Texas coast, each of which experienced a rapid decline in the number of physicians in 2001 and 2002.

Texas hospitals have used more than $100 million per year in savings on liability insurance, which they are using to hire medical staff, improve and expand facilities, enhance efficiency and patient safety, and deliver more charity care; up about $500 million per year since 2003.

The promise of greater access to care has been a reality for Texas patients, providing a model for comprehensive medical liability reform in states around the country and on the federal level. To read the TCJL study about how Texas delivered on its promise to patients, click here.