MSV’s Medical Malpractice Cap Impact Survey now includes responses from 358 physicians and PAs practicing across the Commonwealth, representing a wide range of specialties, practice settings, and geographic regions.
MSV’s Medical Malpractice Cap Impact Survey now includes responses from 358 physicians and PAs practicing across the Commonwealth, representing a wide range of specialties, practice settings, and geographic regions. Nearly half (49%) practice independently, and 43% have more than 20 years of clinical experience, reflecting deep, long-standing engagement in Virginia’s healthcare system. Respondents include frontline emergency physicians, surgeons, OB/GYNs, primary care physicians, and specialists serving both urban and rural communities.
Physicians cite increased personal and financial risk, difficulty obtaining affordable coverage, reduced services, and changes in payer participation as likely outcomes. These pressures are consistently linked to reduced patient access, longer wait times, increased travel for care, and additional strain on emergency departments and hospital systems.
Taken together, the findings indicate that rapid and substantial changes to malpractice policy risk accelerating physician attrition, destabilizing independent practices, reducing Medicaid access, and creating or worsening healthcare shortage areas across the Commonwealth.
Trend note: As responses increased from 135 → 178 → 358, concern about leaving practice or the state rose, not softened.
Physicians repeatedly note that Medicaid reimbursement already fails to cover rising overhead costs, making Medicaid access particularly vulnerable to additional malpractice pressure.
High-risk services—OB, emergency medicine, surgery, anesthesia, and complex specialty care—are cited as most at risk.
Respondents anticipate the following direct effects on patients:
Qualitative responses consistently describe:
