After President Bush recently stopped in Southern Illinois to urge lawmakers to pass medical malpractice reform, state and national legislators have pledged to address the issue this year.
During a town hall meeting in Collinsville -- 15 miles east of St. Louis -- Bush called on Congress to fix the medical liability system he called "out of control" with a workable bill on his desk by the end of the year.
"This is a system that needs to be fixed," Bush said. "We've got a problem, folks."
Bush argued that instituting a cap on medical malpractice awards would help to drive down patients' health care costs and doctors' insurance rates. The president proposed a $250,000 limit on non-economic damages, also known as pain and suffering, from malpractice awards.
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Amber Hard, Illinois director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, said she agrees there is a medical malpractice crisis in Illinois, but Bush's proposal will not solve any problems. Hard said Illinois needs insurance regulation, not a proposal that would "tie the hands of juries."
"He is proposing reforms that would devastate victims of malpractice and wouldn't actually create lower premiums for doctors," Hard said.
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