That doesn't demonstrate any conclusions whatsoever about costs. What it demonstrates, however tenuously [1], should surprise no one: physicians have a preferen

That doesn't demonstrate any conclusions whatsoever about costs. What it demonstrates, however tenuously [1], should surprise no one: physicians have a preference to practice in areas where the costs of their malpractice are minimized. The notion that it brings costs down by increasing supply is a central tenet of the tort reform movement. However, this hypothesis has not been borne out by the evidence [2]. Moreover, as someone who worked in public health in Texas during the post-tort-reform era, particularly with hospitals in rural Texas, I can tell you anecdotally that the supply of physicians available outside major metropolitan areas declined when tort reform activists predicted an increase in supply. [1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2047433 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2047433 [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5701901/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5701901/