States With Caps on Pain & Suffering Damages

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Most capped states use one noneconomic damages figure regardless of defendant. Iowa splits it by who you're suing.

Two tiers, not one

Under Iowa Code §147.136A, noneconomic damages are capped at $1,000,000 when the defendant is an individual health care provider or independent clinic, and $2,000,000 when the claim involves a hospital. House File 161, effective February 16, 2023, replaced an earlier flat $250,000 "soft" cap with this tiered structure, reflecting that hospital defendants typically carry larger exposure and resources than a solo practitioner.

An uncommon structural choice

Most states with a malpractice cap apply a single figure regardless of whether the defendant is an individual provider or a hospital system. Iowa's two-tier approach, scaling the cap to the type of defendant, is a structural choice relatively few other states share.

A cap that keeps rising

Both tiers increase annually by a set percentage. Iowa's Insurance Division publishes a running schedule projecting the figures decades into the future, with both tiers more than doubling by the 2050s.

Outside malpractice, no cap at all

This tiered structure is specific to claims against health care providers and hospitals under the Medical Malpractice framework. An ordinary Iowa personal injury claim — a car accident, a slip and fall — has no cap on pain and suffering.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm the current rule in any state with a licensed attorney there.