Changes in Maternal Care and Infant Health After Noneconomic Damage Cap Repeals.

IMPORTANCE

Noneconomic damage caps, a form of medical malpractice law, remain controversial, as several states have enacted such laws since 2010, whereas others have repealed them. The clinical consequences of repealing these caps are poorly understood, and understanding these associations can inform the ongoing debate about medical malpractice reform.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether repealing noneconomic damage caps is associated with changes in maternal care and infant health outcomes.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND

PARTICIPANTS

This cross-sectional study adopted a difference-in-differences design, comparing between 2 treated states (Georgia and Illinois) that repealed their noneconomic damage caps in 2008 to 2009 and 16 control states that retained their caps during the entire study period between 2005 and 2019. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention All-County Natality Files were used to estimate multivariate linear models, controlling for maternal and infant characteristics and county-level and state-level covariates. Estimates were stratified by county rurality and birth risk conditions. Data were analyzed from April 1, 2024, to April 9, 2026.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcomes were 4 measures of maternal care and procedures (physician-attended births, inductions, cesarean delivery births, and prenatal visits) and 3 birth outcomes (low Apgar score, low birth weight, and preterm births). Difference-in-differences models with 2-way fixed effects were estimated, and linear models for the study outcomes were specified.

RESULTS

The sample included 20 426 267 live births (mean [SD] gestational age, 38.55 [1.35] weeks). Compared with their counterparts in the control states, rural counties in the treated states experienced a statistically significant increase of 2.92 percentage points (pp) (95% CI, 1.40-4.50 pp; Bonferroni-adjusted P = .01) in physician-attended births. The increase held for both low-risk (3.10 pp; 95% CI, 1.33-4.90 pp; P = .004) and high-risk (2.56 pp; 95% CI, 0.77-4.34 pp; P = .01) births in rural counties. There was no difference between treated and control states for physician-attended births overall or in urban counties. No statistically significant associations were observed for cesarean deliveries, inductions, prenatal visits, or infant health outcomes after adjusting for multiple comparisons.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cross-sectional study of 20 426 267 live births across 18 states, repealing noneconomic damage caps was associated with increased physician-attended births in rural counties but was not associated with statistically significant changes in other maternal care measures or infant health outcomes. These findings suggest that increased liability risk after repealing the caps may shift the composition of birth attendants in resource-constrained settings without demonstrable changes in infant health.