AIA DISAPPOINTED BY RULING THAT INVALIDATES ILLINOIS’ MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM LAW
CHICAGO, November 13, 2007 – The America Insurance Association (AIA) today expressed disappointment in a Cook County, Ill., Circuit Court ruling that strikes down the state’s 2005 medical liability reform law by calling the caps on non-economic damages for medical malpractice lawsuits unconstitutional.
“Throwing out the non-economic damage award cap will once again subject medical malpractice insurers to excessive verdicts and settlements, setting back the limited progress we have seen in the Illinois market,” said Steve Schneider, AIA vice president, Midwest Region. “We are disappointed in the ruling and hope the caps are found constitutional on appeal. Otherwise, we fear a rewind to 2004 when the market was in crisis and Illinois citizens where without access to healthcare.”
In 2005, Illinois enacted a medical malpractice reform law to address an access to care crisis that has seen more than 135 physicians feel the downstate Metro East area and more than 44 verdicts or settlements in excess of $5 million in Cook County alone the previous year. The key provision of the law was a cap on non-economic damages of $500,000 per doctor and $1 million per hospital (economic damages, such as money needed to pay healthcare expenses, remained uncapped).
Opponents of the reform law announced immediately upon its signing they would challenge its constitutionality. The first case addressing the issue was decided on today by Cook County Circuit Judge Diane Joan Larsen in the matter of LeBron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, et. al. (Cook County 06 L 12109). An appeal of the decision would go directly to the State Supreme Court.
“The business of insurance operates best when there is a stable, predictable tort climate. Illinois already has a poor liability climate by most measures and this ruling will do nothing to help that fact,” added Schneider.