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Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
GIVE ‘EM A CHEER
The Springfield High School Cheerleaders recently won first place in the COA
Midwest Regional Qualifying competition. This competition was an all-day multi-state
competition that these 32 girls worked very hard to win. Both the Varsity and
Junior Varsity teams won first place in their divisions. These girls worked
hard to qualify to go to the National Championships in April. They now face
a great challenge of raising funds to pay for their trip. To get 32 girls and
their coaches to Florida for a four-day nationally televised (ESPN) competition,
these girls will need to raise $500-$1,000 each. The more people know about
these girls’ great success, the more achievable their goals will become.
Dan Freeman
Springfield
STIFF MEDICINE FOR INSURORS
The malpractice premium charges for independent physicians are outrageous.
When I ran for the state Senate in 1992, I made the following proposal:
1. The state of Illinois should collect a 1/2 percent tax on all medical services
to pay into a trust fund to pay claims against doctors and hospitals in Illinois.
(Nationally, malpractice claims costs run less than a 1/2 percent of the total
U.S. medical bill.) This would mean that no doctor or hospital in Illinois would
be required to have malpractice insurance.
2. In exchange, the medical establishment would have to give up the power
over the disciplinary process. Each medical malpractice claim would be subject
to investigation by the Illinois Department of Public Health, with appropriate
sanctions administered.
3. The powers of the Joint Commission for Health Care Organizations would
be transferred to the Department of Public Health. All immunities provided to
County hospitals would be abolished, as the fund would pay the claims, not taxpayers.
All findings of the department would be made public.
4. All claims would be processed as a federal tort claim is today. That means
the Department of Public Health would have a chance to settle each claim before
an attorney got involved.
The effect of such a procedure would be to remove the uncertainty of the marketplace,
and the high administrative costs and profits of the present carriers. Finally,
it will force an improvement in the quality of medical care provided in this
state, which the system does not now do.
Kenneth E. Baughman
Monticello
This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2003.
