Sen. John Edwards' spouse visits Virginia on campaign tour

By CHELYEN DAVIS

Date published: 9/9/2004

Candidate's wife details plan to lower malpractice costs

RICHMOND--Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, offered some solutions for high malpractice and health-insurance rates yesterday in a talk at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.

In the third appearance by a member of the Edwards family in Virginia during this campaign, Edwards said a variety of factors play into the rising cost of doctors' malpractice insurance.

The problem has driven many doctors, especially obstetricians and gynecologists, out of practice.

Rappahannock General Hospital in the Northern Neck closed its obstetrical unit this year in part because the obstetricians who served it could not get malpractice insurance.

Edwards, whose husband made his name as a plaintiff's attorney in medical malpractice cases, said malpractice awards are not a driver of high insurance costs.

She said states that have caps on malpractice awards haven't shown any lower awards, on average, than states without caps, and that the average size of awards is decreasing.

The Bush camp disputes the study on which that claim is based.

Edwards said low Medicaid reimbursement rates are part of the problem. She said her husband and his running mate, John Kerry, have several proposals that could mitigate high malpractice-insurance issues.

"There are a lot of frivolous cases" brought to court, she said, and having a panel of attorneys weed out those lawyers who bring frivolous cases could reduce the number.

Such a group could "make sure we rout out these cases by rooting out the lawyers who file them," Edwards said. "The current administration has no real plan to rid the system of frivolous lawsuits."

Edwards also said that 50 percent of malpractice claims are against just 5 percent to 7 percent of doctors. If doctors could be more vigilant in policing their own, that would help.

She also blamed insurance companies, saying they raise rates when their stock-investment portfolios dip.

Edwards also noted that insurance companies are exempt from federal antitrust laws, something the Kerry-Edwards ticket would like to change.

But if none of those steps worked, Edwards said, the Democratic candidates are proposing federal help, such as tax credits, to lower malpractice premiums.

Edwards criticized the Bush administration's approach to health-care problems, saying it relies too heavily on malpractice award caps, tax-free health savings accounts, and bare-bones "associated health plans."

Date published: 9/9/2004