Rising medical malpractice liability insurance costs have not significantly reduced access to health care, according to study by the General Accounting Office.

The GAO report, "Medical Malpractice: Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care," studied the experience of physicians in nine states. Five of the states--Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and West Virginia--had reported medical malpractice coverage-related problems, while the other four--California, Colorado, Minnesota and Montana--had not. While the GAO found isolated instances of reduced access to health care in the five problem states, it also found that "many of the reported provider actions were not substantiated or did not affect access to health care on a widespread basis."

The GAO noted that "some reports of physicians relocating to other states, retiring or closing practices were not accurate or involved relatively few physicians" in the five problem states. The report added, however, that "continuing to monitor the effect of providers' responses to rising malpractice premiums on access to care will be essential, given the import and evolving nature of this issue."

In addition, the study noted that "limited available data indicate that growth in malpractice premiums and claims payments has been slower in states that enacted tort reform laws that include certain caps on noneconomic damages." However, the agency cautioned that it could not determine the extent to which the differences among states were attributable to tort reform or other factors.

The report is available at www.gao.gov.