About KHA

(April 2026) – The plaintiffs' litigation industry spends enormous sums to convince Americans that it exists to deliver "justice" and easy money. Between 2017 and 2021 alone, attorney advertising in Kansas increased by about 64 percent.

You've seen the ads in which plaintiff attorneys are portrayed as crusaders for justice, promising their clients massive payouts from large, faceless insurance companies.

The reality is different. The public and health care professionals ultimately foot the bill, economically, psychologically and physically, for those big settlements and verdicts featured on billboards and TV screens. And the profits? They line the pockets of the plaintiff litigation industry.

Who pays?
1. Patients and the Public
Tort litigation costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion each year. The average American family of four pays about $6,664 in additional annual costs attributable to the tort litigation industry. This is often called the "tort tax." We all pay it, but a disproportionate share goes to attorneys' fees and litigation expenses rather than to injured individuals.

Excessive litigation is also linked to broader economic consequences. Estimates suggest that excessive litigation costs the nation 4.8 million jobs and imposes more than $160 billion in annual costs on small businesses, $28.8 billion in lost state revenues and $24.1 billion in lost local government revenues.

Beyond the economic impact, the public experiences reduced access to quality health care. There's no evidence that medical malpractice litigation improves patient safety or leads to better health care outcomes. In fact, increased medical malpractice litigation tends to promote defensive medicine and reduce access to quality care.

New Mexico offers a cautionary example. In 2021, legislation backed by the plaintiff litigation industry rolled back key limits on the types and amounts of money damages juries could award in medical malpractice cases. Predictably, medical malpractice settlements and verdicts ballooned. Plaintiff attorneys grew richer, while patients lost access to health care. Today, two-thirds of New Mexico's physicians report they are considering leaving the state, with the majority citing medical malpractice liability risk as a primary motivator. Notably, rural communities are bearing the brunt of the plaintiff lawyer gold rush in New Mexico, where access to quality health care is sharply declining.

2. Health Care Professionals
Nearly 90 percent of medical malpractice claims that reach a jury are found to lack merit. Despite this, plaintiff attorneys often use the threat of excessive verdicts to pressure and bully health care professionals into settling.

These settlements are reported to the National Practitioner Databank and remain on a health care professional's record for the professional's entire career. In some cases, plaintiff attorneys threaten a health care professional's personal assets or, when targeting rural hospitals, suggest continued litigation could bankrupt the facility.

Health care professionals who choose to stand up for themselves are often forced to endure years of litigation. This exacts a heavy toll on health care professionals who train, sacrifice and work for many years to pursue their passion for helping people. Health care professionals often experience symptoms similar to PTSD after being targeted in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Studies show that more than 95 percent of physicians involved in malpractice litigation suffer from adjustment disorders, major depressive disorder or the exacerbation or onset of physical illnesses.

The toxic medical malpractice liability environment drives many health care professionals to leave the practice of medicine altogether, further limiting patients' access to care.

Who Profits?
In 2025, the plaintiff litigation industry was valued at approximately $61.7 billion, and more than 50,000 personal injury law firms operated nationwide. The industry continues to expand.

What attorney advertisements won't tell you is that plaintiffs' attorneys earn their profits from contingency-fee agreements that require the injured client to pay their lawyer a large share of any settlement or verdict, often 40-50 percent.

Because most medical malpractice claims are ultimately found to lack merit, these contingency fee agreements create incentives to prolong litigation, inflate settlement demands and pursue costly litigation in cases that lack merit in hopes of securing a single "jackpot" verdict.

What Can Kansas Do?
1. Stand up for Healthcare Professionals—and Win
At KAMMCO, we're not afraid to stand up to the plaintiff's litigation industry. We zealously defend health care professionals and support them throughout the litigation process.

Over the past decade, KAMMCO-insured health care professionals and facilities have won about 90 percent of medical malpractice cases that went to trial. Notably, the last 11 injury trials involving claims against KAMMCO-insured providers resulted in defense verdicts.

2. Preserve and Strengthen Kansas Tort Reform
Although Kansas has not updated its tort reform measures in some time, Kansas law still contains critical protections. The first step to avoid a medical malpractice crisis similar to New Mexico's is to preserve those protections and to ensure the Kansas Health Care Stabilization Fund.

There are also opportunities to maintain and improve access to quality health care in Kansas by updating Kansas tort reform law, including placing reasonable limits on "hired gun" expert testimony, curbing tactics used by the plaintiff litigation industry to inflate non-economic damages and controlling attorney contingency-fee arrangements that incentivize excessive litigation.

It is far better to prevent a crisis than to respond after damage has occurred. As one physician commentator lamented, the New Mexico crisis stemmed from failing to retain and implement reforms.

"…malpractice legislation isn't just about litigation or compensation. It's about sustaining health care access, physician availability and patient safety. Doctors across America should take note—and speak up before similar crises take hold in their states."