Throughout the month of May, the Illinois legislature has been conducting hearings on reform measures proposed by the governor. These changes – done in the name of helping big businesses — will instead significantly impede medical malpractice victims’ ability to recover for their injuries and costs.
Proposed Changes
The first change is an attempt to reinstate medical malpractice caps. These “caps” limit the amount of damages available to a victim of medical malpractice or wrongful death. The Illinois legislature did enact such caps in 2005 but the Illinois Supreme Court overturned such damages caps in 2010 with its decision in Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. The court ruled it is unconstitutional to limit what victims can recover in cases involving medical negligence.
Typically, proponents of such caps on damages point to multi-million dollar verdicts, but they ignore the very real costs and pain and suffering medical malpractice victims endure at the hands of negligent health care professionals. Hospital bills can quickly exceed thousands or millions of dollars. Large verdicts not only help cover those bills and punish the wrongdoers, but they also provide future financial security for the victim and their family, specifically in cases where they have to endure life-long or long-term treatments or are permanently disabled.
The other major change the governor is proposing – which is in favor of businesses and harms plaintiffs – is restricting what victims can recover to medical expenses paid rather than expenses billed. When a victim is harmed by medical malpractice or simply receives medical treatment for a variety of reasons, they receive a statement of medical expenses. If you have health insurance, the insurance company pays for a portion of this bill. The remainder is left for you to pay. The courts currently allow a victim of malpractice to present the entire medical statement to the jury; that cost is then included in the calculation for damages. The new law will instead limit it to the small percentage the victim is required to pay. Why is this bad? It essentially punishes those who are responsible enough to have health insurance and provides a windfall to the negligent medical provider. They will not be punished for the full cost of their errors, and will still receive payment from the insurance company for the services they provided. The victims, on the other hand, are short changed.
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Contact an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney
If one of your loved ones has been injured due to the negligence of a medical professional, you are entitled to recover your losses and sue on their behalf. Mary Ann Covone Attorney at Law, has over 23 years of experience representing victims of medical malpractice in the Chicago area. Call today at (708) 246-4911 for a free consultation.