American College of Emergency Physicians

Recent Reforms Enacted (since 2003)	Requires plaintiffs to obtain an affidavit of merit from a qualified expert. The expert must be a practicing physician who has been in the same or similar field as the defendant for the past three years. Additionally, if the defendant is Board Certified, then the expert must also be Board Certified in the same or similar field.
Emergency Care Provision	None
Reform Elements In Law	Collateral Source Attorney Fee Limit Periodic Payments Expert Witness Affidavit of Merit Pre-Trial Screening
Constitutional Status of Reforms	Untested
Change in Insurance Rates	AMA reports at least one insurer raised rates as much as 40 to 100% in 2004.
Insurance Availability	Information not available.
Change in Physician Availability	Information not available.
Change in Cases Filed/Awards	28 liability lawsuits were filed in the first five months of fiscal year 2005, compared to yearly totals of 93 in fiscal 2004 and 105 the previous year. 63 paid claims in 2003 or 28 per 1000 active nonfederal physicians. US avg. was 18.8 per 1000. 31 paid claims in 2005 or 13.7 per 1000 active nonfederal physicians. US avg. was 17.1 per 1000. (Kaiser) 33 total number of paid claims for 2006 of which 12.5 paid claims per 1,000 were active, non-federal physicians. 15 paid claims in 2007.