I have personally participated in the debate over the proposed medical malpractice reforms discussed in your March 27 article. As long as a year ago, I listened to the assertions by the same politicians you quoted that the road to these reforms is blocked by the competing interests of a group of physicians and certain professional liability insurance companies. Blaming insurance company mismanagement or profiteering for the medical malpractice crisis in Illinois should be seen as yet another tactic and excuse for inaction on this vital issue.
Every insurance expert I have spoken with indicates that more regulation of the professional liability insurance industry, though it may stabilize rates in the short run, will ultimately lead to a decrease in the number of insurance providers in the market and hence higher rates in the long run.
Most of us even in our lay understanding of economics could deduce that if Illinois was a profitable environment for insurance companies, that providers would be entering our state, not leaving (as evidenced by a decrease from about 20 to five currently).
Also evident is the flight of certain groups of physicians, such as obstetricians and neurosurgeons, in vulnerable areas of the state.
An American College of Emergency Physicians survey recently demonstrated that more than 73 percent of the American public favor tort reform (including caps on non-economic damages). It is urgently needed in Illinois.
Emergency physicians across this state stand to fill the void created by the absence of certain physician specialists. They do this amid their own troubles with medical malpractice insurance availability, despite crowded emergency rooms, and while serving as the health-care safety net for the uninsured. All people of Illinois benefit from their commitment. We should all expect the same from our elected representatives, or at least something more than just excuses.
