There are few tasks more frustrating than paying bills. If you really want to raise your blood pressure, don’t just look at the total — scan the line items. Fees, surcharges and add-ons pile up quickly.

But even worse are the costs you never see: the hidden charges quietly baked into the price of everyday goods and services.

Economists have a name for these hidden costs — “tort taxes.”

It may sound like jargon, but the impact is real. These are price increases passed on to consumers as a result of excessive litigation. In the auto insurance industry, that often stems from fraudulent claims, inflated damages and a growing expectation of eye-popping settlements. Over time, these trends have driven up legal costs and pushed jury awards beyond what is economically reasonable.

You may be thinking: I’ve never been involved in a lawsuit; why does this affect me? The answer is simple. Auto insurance companies pass on these costs to their customers. To cover mounting legal expenses, insurers raise premiums across the board, meaning every driver and business pays more, regardless of whether they’ve ever set foot in a courtroom.

In Missouri, the impact is becoming harder to ignore. A recent report from the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance found that lawsuit abuse is straining the state’s insurance market and making coverage less affordable for families and businesses alike. Dishonest litigation tactics, including exaggerated claims and misleading arguments, can distort outcomes in court, resulting in inflated payouts that ripple throughout the economy.

Those ripple effects are significant. According to a Perryman report, Missouri families pay more than $1,200 each year in hidden costs tied to excessive litigation. In St. Louis, the burden is even higher, with families paying over $1,600 in increased costs for everyday goods and services.

It’s no surprise that the American Tort Reform Association has ranked St. Louis among the nation’s top “Judicial Hellholes.”

The good news is that solutions exist, and Missouri lawmakers are well positioned to lead.

In 2005, Congress passed the Graves Amendment, authored by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The law addressed lawsuit abuse in the transportation industry by establishing a clear standard: rental and leasing companies should only be held liable for their own negligence, not merely for owning a vehicle involved in an accident.

Since then, the transportation landscape has vastly changed. Rideshare platforms now play a central role in how Missourians get to work and access essential services. Yet, these companies operate in a legal gray area, where they can be held liable for accidents they did not cause simply because a driver is associated with an app.

That uncertainty invites excessive litigation and drives up costs for riders and drivers alike.

Congress has a clear opportunity to pass a solution. As lawmakers take up the federal highway bill, set to expire in September, they should extend the same principles of the Graves Amendment to rideshare platforms. Doing so would close a costly loophole, reduce unnecessary litigation and help stabilize insurance costs, while ensuring legitimate victims retain access to justice.

For Missouri families, this is about more than legal policy. It’s about affordability. Reining in lawsuit abuse and modernizing liability rules would help lower costs, protect jobs and make everyday life more manageable.