Constitutional Challenge Update
Legal Briefs Submitted in Defense of Reform Law
ISMIE Mutual and a dozen partners in reform have demonstrated their collective mettle by submitting briefs assembled by top legal experts to the Illinois Supreme Court. This unified action among diverse groups with various priorities presents the most compelling argument to date for sustaining the 2005 medical liability reform law.
“This united effort is a legal tour de force, and should bolster the case to scuttle the circuit court’s earlier decision to overturn this vital law. We can’t protect access to patient care and keep doctors in Illinois without it,” stated ISMIE Mutual Chairman Harold L. Jensen, MD.
Details of the briefs are included inside this issue of Mutual Interests.
ISMIE’s brief, prepared by expert constitutional scholar Theodore B. Olson, authoritatively recaps the General Assembly’s intent in enacting the 2005 Reform Act: The Act is a bipartisan response toward solving a health care crisis in Illinois, and the limitations on noneconomic damages are indispensable to the Act’s success.
Dr. Jensen adds, “It’s widely recognized that caps on non-economic damages work in other states. As ISMIE’s brief affirms, our cap in Illinois is ‘well within the range of reasonable limitations approved by other states.’ Our brief presents independent benchmarks that support the General Assembly’s decision to ‘enact a reasonable solution to a pressing social need.’”
To view the full text of ISMIE Mutual’s brief and for ongoing updates on the challenge to Illinois’ medical liability reform law, please visit www.RealityMedicine.com. |
As plaintiffs’ and defendants’ briefs and rebuttals are volleyed back and forth during the summer months, ISMIE policyholders and all Illinois physicians may be assured of a constant, determined effort toward maintaining the reform law.
Momentum for reform persists
Since reforms have been in place in Illinois, positive effects have begun to take hold: More professional liability carriers entering the state; liability insurance premiums stabilizing; and access to health care improving in some communities.
Similar reform laws have yielded similar positive effects in other states. “Tort reform is good medicine,” a June 6 commentary in the Washington Examiner, reports that “the list of success stories in states enacting lawsuit-abuse reforms is growing,” and, “Reforms seem to have the most visible results in the health care arena.”
According to the commentary, other states experiencing an improved medical liability landscape since reforms were enacted include Texas, West Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri, California and Alabama.