Barack Obama answers questions on health care

“Q. Doctors are leaving southern Illinois to practice elsewhere because of high medical malpractice insurance costs. When do you think this will be resolved and what do you think will do it?

A. There is a crisis in Illinois. Malpractice insurance premiums are going up and making it too expensive for doctors to provide the care our citizens need in crucial areas. Something must be done – there must be short-term and longer-term remedies – on both a state and federal level. That is why I worked in Springfield to ensure that real medical malpractice reform will pass this session and why I wanted to go to Washington to fight for those reforms on a federal level. Any malpractice reform package must attack the problem at all levels – reducing frivolous lawsuits by cracking down on bad lawyers and shaky lawsuits, reducing insurance premiums by cracking down on malpractice insurance companies who are driving up doctors’ payments to make their own profits increase, and reducing medical errors by cracking down on bad doctors.”

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