Illinois General Assembly

State Rep. Tracy Medical Malpractice Caps Were Proven to be Effective; Supreme Court Decision a Major Step Backwards

For Immediate Release
Contact Rep. Jil Tracy
(217) 223-0833

February 04, 2010

Springfield, IL...On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court dealt a major blow to medical malpractice reform by overturning a 2005 law which capped the amount patients could receive for non-economic damages. State Representative Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) called the decision unfortunate, which could lead to increased costs and reduced access to quality health care.

"The medical lawsuit reforms which were enacted in 2005 proved to be an effective tool for reducing insurance premiums and keeping doctors in Illinois," said Rep. Tracy. "I'm afraid this decision will prove to be a major setback to the medical liability reforms made in the past five years, and could return us to a period where it was nearly impossible to find specialty doctors, such as obstetricians, practicing in downstate Illinois."

In 2005 the Illinois General Assembly enacted medical malpractice reforms which included caps on pain and suffering, as well as other non-economic damages. The caps, which set a limit of $500,000 per case for individual doctors and $1 million for hospitals, were effective in driving down medical malpractice insurance premiums and bringing doctors back to Illinois.

Before the 2005 medical malpractice reforms were in place, frivolous lawsuits forced many insurance companies to stop doing business in Illinois, thus making it nearly impossible for doctors and hospitals to obtain reasonably affordable insurance. This subsequently led Illinois doctors to pursue practices in neighboring states, resulting in very limited options for those in need of high risk, special medical procedures. At one point before the caps were in place, it was reported that not a single community south of Springfield had a practicing neurosurgeon. Only two years after the caps were enacted, over 5,000 new doctors were licensed for practice in Illinois, with three new insurance companies offering cheaper coverage.

"This decision comes at a very inopportune time. The economy remains uncertain and unemployment is still extremely high. People are struggling to make mortgage payments and put food on the table, the last thing families need right is an increase in the cost of health care," Tracy said. "This is exactly the type of decision that keeps jobs, medical jobs in this case, from coming to Illinois."