States With Caps on Pain & Suffering Damages

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Nebraska has no general cap and no punitive damages. Its limits apply to medical malpractice, where the cap covers all damages together, and to local governments.

No general cap

Nebraska has no generally applicable cap on damages in injury cases. In an ordinary injury case, the jury decides pain and suffering without a statutory ceiling.

A total cap for malpractice

The Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-2825, caps total recovery at $2.25 million per occurrence. The cap includes both economic and noneconomic damages, so medical bills and lost earnings count against it. It started at $500,000 for older occurrences and has been raised in steps.

No punitive damages

Nebraska does not allow punitive damages. Summaries describe a constitutional ban, so there is no punitive cap to calculate.

Local governments

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-926, recovery under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act is limited to $1,000,000 for any person for any number of claims from one occurrence and $5,000,000 for all claims from one occurrence. The cap applies to each person who has a claim.

Fault and defendant shares

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-21,185.10, economic damages are joint and several but noneconomic damages are several only, so each defendant pays its own percentage of pain and suffering.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm how Nebraska's rules apply to your specific case with a licensed Nebraska attorney.