Why doctors are heading for Texas

Over the past three years, some 7,000 M.D.s have flooded into Texas, and experts say Tort reform is the main reason. In 2003 and in 2005, Texas enacted a series of reforms to the state's civil justice system. Texas Medical Liability Trust, one of the largest malpractice insurance companies in the state, has slashed its premiums by 35% and saved doctors approximately $217 million over four years. There is also a competitive malpractice insurance industry in Texas that drives rates down. The result is an influx of doctors so great that the State Board of Medical Examiners recently could not process all the new medical-license applications quickly enough.