Forbes Advisor recently reported on its anaylsis of the medical malpractice experiences of all 50 U.S. states and found that nationally, the U.S. pays out over $184 billion for medical malpractice cases, and that medical malpractice payments are approximately $552 per capita in the United States.

With regard to states with the most problems with medical malpractice (i.e., states with the highest numbers of adverse actions reports, medical malpractice payments, and medical malpractice payouts from 2017 through the first half of 2023), Forbes Advisor found:

  • While New York ranked first for the number of medical malpractice payments, it ranked second to last for the number of adverse action reports.
  • West Virginia ranks first, with payouts of over $1.5 billion during the years considered.
  • Louisiana ranked first for adverse reports. It missed out on ranking first overall primarily because medical malpractice payments per capita were roughly half those in West Virginia.
  • The two states that tied, Alaska and Connecticut, could not be more different in terms of demographics or state government policies. This is apparent in the large disparities in how these states ranked in the three categories considered.
  • Except for Kansas and Louisiana, every state in the top 10 had a cost-of-living adjusted payment per capita higher than the average of $552.
  • The top 11 states on the list have a combined population of almost 91 million, representing roughly 27% of the population of the United States.
  • Six states of the top 11 ranked in the bottom half of adverse action reports, and Maryland, at No. 25, just missed ranking in the bottom half.
  • Alaska is the only state in the top 11 that ranked in the bottom half of medical malpractice payment reports, at No. 27.
  • No state in the top 11 ranked in the bottom half for cost-of-living adjusted medical malpractice payments per capita.

With regard to states with the least problems with medical malpractice, Forbes Advisor found:

  • Idaho—with low rankings in all three categories, including the lowest cost-of-living adjusted medical malpractice payment per capita—easily takes the bottom spot on the list.
  • Wisconsin ranked lowest for total medical malpractice payments but came in No. 49 on the list because of a relatively high number of adverse action reports.
  • Even though Hawaii had the fewest adverse action reports per capita, it missed making the bottom 10 due in great part to having the highest cost of living.
  • The 10 states with the least medical malpractice problems have a total population of roughly 71 million, representing roughly 21% of the U.S. population.
  • Alabama is the only state in the bottom 10 that ranks in the top 10 of a category. It is No. 9 for the number of adverse action reports.
  • Four of these 10 states rank in the top half for adverse action reports, with three more (Utah, South Dakota and Minnesota) just missing the top half.
  • South Dakota is the only state in the bottom 10 where the cost-of-living adjusted medical malpractice payment per capita is over $300.
  • Texas has a population roughly equal to almost every other state in the bottom 10 combined (excluding North Carolina).
  • North Dakota had the fewest total medical malpractice payment reports during the time considered, with 55.
  • Every state in the bottom 10 ranked in the lower half for the number and cost of medical malpractice payments per capita.

With regard to states that pay the most in medical malpractice payments, Forbes Advisor found:

  • The total payments in New York were more than the next two states (California and Pennsylvania) combined, despite those states having over double the population of New York.
  • California and Texas have the lowest cost-of-living adjusted payment per capita values of the states on the list, but they still make the top 10 due to their high respective populations.
  • The states on the list represent roughly 170 million people, which is over 50% of the total population of the United States.
  • The top 10 states account for roughly $135 million of medical malpractice payments. That is almost 80% of all money spent on medical malpractice in the U.S. Furthermore, the top four states represent almost half of all money spent on medical malpractice.

Source

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