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Letter to the Editor January 23, 2003 Why non-economic damage limits will mean better care for all. To the Editor, Thank you to the Sun-Times Editorial Board for their clear perspective on President Bush's proposal to cap non-economic damages in malpractice trial jury awards. The issue of a patient's "pain and suffering" is a highly emotional debate. But we must ensure that these emotions do not lead to physician work stoppages, closed practices or fewer physicians, leaving patients with nowhere to go for needed care. Medical liability insurance premiums have increased about 40 percent nationwide this year, compared to only a 12 percent increase in healthcare costs overall. Excessive jury verdicts, perhaps meant to teach a lesson to a few, may unintentionally harm many more in the near future. As a family physician in private practice in suburban Chicago, I can tell you how increased liability costs affect my office and my ability to provide care. Along with my increasing premiums, my annual staff payroll and office overhead expenses also continue to increase. Meanwhile both Medicaid and Medicare have forced cuts to their physician reimbursement rates. Private insurers are also trying to cut costs by reducing their payments to physicians. Simple economics tells us that when your costs are climbing fast while your revenues are going down, you're in financial trouble. Consider my downstate colleague, Dr. Johnson in Pittsfield, where he provides care to about 6,000 rural patients, about 65 percent who rely on Medicare or Medicaid for their healthcare. Dr. Johnson has mortgaged his family farm just to keep his practice afloat another year or two while his income continues to suffer from cuts to reimbursement rates for the care he provides. Many Illinois family physicians have been forced to give up obstetrics, and no longer deliver babies, because they cannot afford the skyrocketing premiums to insure their deliveries. Some have been forced to stop accepting new patients. In many rural communities and even some urban settings, family physicians are the only doctors. Where will patients go to for emergency care or to deliver babies if their family doctor closes shop or has to give up coverage for critical procedures? Family physicians are working with leaders in Washington, D.C. to create federal standards for medical liability trials similar to California's legislation of 1975, which caps only non-economic awards. Since 1976, medical liability insurance premiums in California have increased at about one-third the rate (176 percent) of the nation (505 percent) as a whole. A reformed system will ensure that patients still receive full and unlimited compensation for medical costs, lost wages and potential future earnings. There is no doubt that when mistakes are made, victims and their families will be financially prepared for the results. A better system will also enable physicians to do what they do best, provide the best care possible for patients who need it. Susan Rife,
D.O. FOR CONFRIMATION |
