The multiplier method: scaling off your damages
The multiplier method is the industry's default approach. It takes your economic damages — medical bills and lost wages — and multiplies that total by a factor generally between 1.5 and 5, chosen based on injury severity, recovery time, and whether any permanent impairment is involved.
The per diem method: valuing each day
The per diem (Latin for "per day") method works differently. It assigns a specific dollar value to a single day of pain and suffering and multiplies that rate by the total number of days of documented recovery, tying the value directly to time rather than to the size of your medical bills.
Why Maryland makes the cap question more important than usual
In many states, one cap applies across the board. Maryland runs two genuinely separate schedules: the general noneconomic damages cap under § 11-108 for an ordinary personal injury or wrongful death case, and a lower cap under § 3-2A-09 specific to medical malpractice. The two schedules don't just start at different dollar amounts — they also increase on different anniversary dates (October 1 for the general cap, January 1 for the malpractice cap), so the applicable figure genuinely depends on both the type of claim and the exact date the cause of action arose.
Why getting the date and claim type right matters more than the formula
Because Maryland applies the cap in effect on the date the injury or death occurred, not the date a case is filed or settled, correctly identifying both the claim type and that specific date is what actually determines the applicable ceiling. Whichever valuation method you use to estimate noneconomic damages, that estimate is only useful once checked against the correct cap for the correct year.
Neither is required by Maryland law
Both methods remain negotiating tools, not a formula Maryland courts are required to apply. A jury retains discretion to award whatever amount it finds appropriate for noneconomic damages — subject to whichever cap applies, and without being told the cap even exists.