If you're thinking of having a baby in Texas, you now have a better chance of finding an obstetrician. That's because tort reform is beginning to lower costs for doctors who want to practice medicine in the Lone Star State.

The reform comes just in time, too, since at least 150 of the state's 254 counties are without an obstetrician. Earlier this year Texans passed a constitutional amendment and the legislature enacted a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages. These reforms are bringing medical-malpractice insurance rates back down from the stratosphere.

The state's largest med-mal insurer will lower rates by 12% beginning January 1 -- a boon to the 42% of Texas doctors insured by the Texas Medical Liability Trust. Another insurer, the Doctors Company, says it won't raise rates for Texas doctors, thanks to the caps. Meanwhile, the state Department of Insurance has told other insurers to reconsider planned rate hikes in light of the new tort environment. And it reports that some of the insurers that left the state are discussing a return.

The Texas experience flies in the face of arguments that caps have nothing to do with med-mal rates. Such arguments have stood in the way of progress in Pennsylvania -- home of the nation's worst doctor shortage -- as well as in the U.S. Senate. But it's hard to make that argument to the two-out-of-five Texas doctors who will get smaller insurance bills next year.

A recent GAO study shows that doctors pay lower med-mal premiums in states with caps on non-economic damages, though the report stopped short of arguing the caps caused the lower premiums. Perhaps the Texas example will help prove cause and effect. In any case it's welcome news for future Lone Star babies.