Senate, House Republicans Demand Action on
“Meaningful” Medical Malpractice Reform

Springfield , IL ….Republicans in the Illinois House and Senate stood united today demanding lawmakers enact meaningful malpractice reforms before the spring legislative session adjourns.

“The clock is ticking. We are scheduled to adjourn in a few short weeks and today the reforms we need to keep good doctors practicing in Illinois and remedy our health care availability crisis have not received a fair hearing in either the House or Senate,” said House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego). “Senator Watson and I stand united today to demand meaningful reform.” See Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers resource.

“The time for reform is now,” Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville) said. “After months of discussions, we must seize this opportunity to enact meaningful reform. We cannot and will not accept anything less. If just a handful of Democrats join us in supporting these reasonable proposals – we can take significant steps toward resolving our health care crisis this legislative session.”

Skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums are forcing Illinois doctors to move their practices out-of-state or to retire. The victims, however, are the patients facing decreased access to quality care. In some areas of the state there are no neurosurgeons and many ob/gyn are limiting their practice to lower their insurance costs.

“Malpractice insurance carriers consider doctors who deliver babies to be in higher risk category which means dramatically higher insurance premiums,” said State Representative Ruth Munson (R-Elgin). “Many ob/gyns are leaving the state and those who have chosen to stay are simply no longer delivering babies forcing some expectant mothers to travel out-of-state to give birth.”

According to the Republican lawmakers, a workable solution to the health care availability crisis must include specific provisions, including:

Medical Reform including strengthening the state's disciplinary procedures for doctors, extending the statute of limitations in some cases, extending the time period to begin disciplinary action and allowing more sharing of information with other regulatory boards and law enforcement agencies.

Court Reform including prohibiting anonymous “Certificates of Merit,” strengthening qualifications for expert witnesses, promoting Health Care Arbitration Agreements, shielding of physician's personal assets, “Good Samaritan” immunity for on-call emergency room doctors when they do not charge for their services, an end to venue shopping, a Blue Ribbon Commission to study alternatives to litigation that would encourage mediation and discourage lawsuits, such as a workers compensation-type system.

Insurance Reform including reporting of judgments and settlements to the Department of Insurance; allowing settlements that pay out over a lifetime and creation of a Professional Liability Insurance Resource Center which will help doctors comparison shop for the best insurance prices.

"This is a balanced approach that forces changes in all aspects of the problem,” Senator Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) said. “A meaningful solution must include legal reforms, medical reforms and insurance reforms as we have laid out here. We will not be willing to accept political rhetoric, cosmetic changes or proposals dictated by special interests, like the Trial Lawyers Association, as real reform.”

An amendment containing those provisions will be started in the Senate this week as an amendment to House Bill 4847. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Denny Jacobs (D-East Moline), who has voiced support for many of the concepts proposed by the two Republican Caucuses over the past 3 months. Both the House and Senate Republicans have advanced detailed plans to address the health care crisis.

Cross and Watson will also continue to push for legislation to reasonably cap non-economic damages. “States that have implemented caps have seen positive results,” Cross said. “We should do the same in Illinois .”

In the Senate, the caps language will be a separate amendment. “We support reasonable caps on those non-economic damage awards,” Watson said. “But we do not want to give the majority party an excuse to oppose all of the solutions we are proposing that will actually make a difference in this state.”

A separate amendment will also be offered to establish a special court system for malpractice cases. “It's an idea that ought to be explored,” Watson said, “not just shelved by the special interest groups who aren't interested in real reform.”

With 26 Republicans votes in the Senate and the support of the House Republican Caucus, the proposals need the support of only a handful of Democrats in order to pass.

“We should not allow politics to stand in the way of solving this health care crisis,” Watson said.