The White House took the first steps on Thursday toward setting up demonstration projects intended to explore solutions to a problem that many doctors say is driving up health care costs: exorbitant malpractice claims and sky-high premiums for liability insurance.

President Obama directed the Department of Health and Human Services to announce within 30 days that it would begin accepting proposals from states, localities and various health organizations for  demonstration projects that would improve patient safety and doctor-patient communication, ensure timely payments to injured patients, and reduce insurance liability premiums for providers. The department intends to give out a total of $25 million, in grants of up to $3 million each, for projects that could run as long as three years.

Read the full story here on the New York Times website.