NIU survey finds Illinois residents
support medical malpractice reform

by Joe King

President George W. Bush knew in advance his campaign for medical malpractice tort reform would play well in Madison County, Ill., where he unveiled his plan Wednesday.

So did researchers at Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies, whose recently completed Illinois Policy Survey, found that residents of southern Illinois were the most likely in the state to have lost doctors due to rising malpractice rates as well as the group most strongly favoring the capping of awards in such cases.

Those feelings could be tied to the reputation of southern Illinois’ Madison County. It was recently ranked the worst “judicial hellhole” in the nation by the American Tort Reform Foundation for its propensity to hand out large settlements in medical malpractice cases. That reputation has had consequences for residents of the region.

According to the NIU survey, 44 percent of those living in southern Illinois say they have lost a doctor because he or she left a practice or moved a practice out of state to escape high malpractice premiums. That is nearly triple the statewide average and four times higher than in Chicago or the collar counties.

“This is the first hard data I have seen to quantify this issue, and it is clearly a problem that touches the lives of people living in that region,” says NIU Professor of Public Administration Michael Peddle. “I think the history of places like Madison County contributes to that problem, and doctors in that region can move to any of several states without having to go too far.”

When asked who is most responsible for the rising cost of malpractice insurance, 44 percent of southern Illinois residents blamed lawyers seeking large settlements in court cases. That was significantly higher than the statewide average of 34 percent, and far greater than the 27 percent of Chicago respondents who shared that feeling.

“This could be a reflection of what their doctors are telling them as they pack up and leave, or it could be fallout from the hotly contested state supreme court election last fall in that region, where one of the major issues was tort reform,” says Peddle. “Either way, it is clear that people in southern Illinois have some very strong opinions on the issue.”

Those strong feelings emerged again when the survey asked if there should be a limit on the amount of money people can receive from malpractice suits. Statewide, 67 percent of respondents favored a cap, while in southern Illinois that percentage soared to 81 percent.  In no region was support below 60 percent.

The results of the survey also indicate that the level of concern over health care issues in general remains high across the state.  Nearly two-thirds of the survey’s respondents believe that state spending for medical care programs should be increased, and 80 percent of respondents would be willing to pay $25 more per year in taxes to prevent further cuts to medical care programs.  These levels of support were only rivaled by the support for spending on public schools in Illinois.

Some 17 percent characterized the American health care system as being in a state of crisis, while 55 percent said that it had major problems. The most commonly cited concerns about health care, named by 48 percent of respondents, were access and affordability – two issues that may be directly related to malpractice concerns, Peddle points out.

“When doctors leave their practice, reduce the scope of their practice, or move their practice out of state, access to health care for their former patients is adversely affected.  The costs of medical insurance can also be affected by many of the same factors that have led to increases in malpractice insurance.”

Two-thirds of all respondents also said that it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage.  “I suspect many respondents see some form of national health insurance or regulation as an attractive way of addressing their concern about access and affordability in our health care system,” said Peddle.

1-18-05