How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages. We apply the multiplier method, the industry-standard approach, to estimate noneconomic damages — then check the combined total against Nebraska's malpractice cap, if it applies.
A stricter 50% bar than most states
Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, a claimant's fault bars recovery entirely once it is "equal to or greater than" the combined fault of the defendants. That's meaningfully stricter than the common 51%-bar states, where exactly 50/50 fault still allows recovery — in Nebraska, 50% fault already crosses the line.
A rare total-damages cap in medical malpractice
Most states that cap medical malpractice damages limit only the noneconomic category. Nebraska does something different: under the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-2825), the cap applies to total damages — economic and noneconomic combined. For malpractice occurring after December 31, 2014, that total cap is $2.25 million. Once your combined economic and noneconomic damages reach that figure, the claim is capped there, regardless of how the two categories break down.
Backed by a state fund, upheld by federal courts
The cap is backed by Nebraska's state-administered Excess Liability Fund, which covers damages above a threshold paid by the provider's own insurance, up to the full $2.25 million limit. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the cap's constitutionality, in one case reducing a jury's $17 million verdict down to the $1.75 million cap that applied to that malpractice date.