This year, several MICRA changes in California have been rolled out.  Every California health care provider should be aware of these changes since they can have a significant impact if they are (or become) involved in a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

First, what is MICRA?

MICRA stands for Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act.  The MICRA Act was a statute enacted by the California State Legislature in September of 1975. The goal of the act was to lower medical malpractice liability insurance premiums for medical providers in the state by lowering their potential tort liability.

What has happened?

The Act was recently updated (or “modernized”) through AB 35.  Per the State of California’s  press release earlier this year, AB 35 “...makes two significant changes to the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) by restructuring MICRA’s limit on attorney fees and raising MICRA’s cap on noneconomic damages.”  The bill was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on May 23, 2022.

What has changed this year?

As of Jan 1, 2023, the most impactful change for California providers is that potential awards for noneconomic damages have increased and will continue to increase over the next 10 years.  Previously, noneconomic damages were capped at $250,000.   

Per the California Medical Association: 

• Cases not involving a patient death will have a limit of $350k…with an incremental increase over the next 10 years to $750k and a 2.0% annual inflationary adjustment thereafter.
• Cases involving a patient death will have a limit of $500k…with an incremental increase over the next 10 years to $1 million and a 2.0% annual inflationary adjustment thereafter.

In addition, the limits on contingency fees for plaintiffs' attorneys have been restructured from a four-tier system to a two-tier system that allows for increased plaintiffs’ attorney fees if the case goes to trial.

For more information about the recent MICRA changes from the California Medical Association, click here.