In light of arguments that reforming the medical liability system could slow health spending growth, a Health Affairs study examines the medical liability system to determine the cost of medical liability, including defensive medicine.  The authors found that the medical liability system cost $55.6 billion in 2008 dollars, representing 2.4 percent of all health spending.

Mello, M., et. al. (2010).  National costs of the medical liability system. Health Affairs, 29(5): 1569-1577. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0807 http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/9/1569.abstract

Authors:Michelle M. Mello, Amitabh Chandra, Atul A. Gawande, and David M. Studdert