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Governor approves medical malpractice reform
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[AUG. 27, 2005]
SPRINGFIELD -- After two years of
Republican prodding, Gov. Blagojevich has approved comprehensive
medical malpractice reforms, announced state
Sen. Larry Bomke,
R-Springfield.
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"This is an agreement the General Assembly has been working toward
for a long time," Bomke noted. "The legislature met with doctors and
health care workers, the insurance companies, and representatives
from the legal system to address the concerns of all parties and
come to a compromise that will satisfy everyone involved. Approval
of these reforms is a great step toward re-establishing a thriving
medical community in Illinois." Bomke said that the measure
includes caps on noneconomic damages, which have been set at
$500,000 for physicians and $1 million for hospitals. He stressed
that although placing caps on noneconomic damages has been a
contentious and divisive issue, it was a necessary component of
creating meaningful malpractice legislation.
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"Instituting caps on noneconomic damages is a very important
provision of the medical malpractice reforms and one that Illinois
doctors insist is necessary to limit the cost of insurance resulting
from the huge jury awards that have been awarded in this state,"
Bomke explained.
He said that lawmakers in both parties worked together for over
18 months to create medical malpractice reforms that would place a
reasonable limit on the costly jury awards and exorbitant insurance
rates.
The new law went into effect immediately upon receiving the
governor's signature.
[News release from
Sen. Larry Bomke,
50th District] |
