[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6039]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        H.R. 5--EFFICIENT ACCESSIBLE LOW-COST TIMELY HEALTH CARE

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                            HON. JOHN LINDER

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 11, 2003

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, the President stated that to prove our 
health care system we must address excessive lawsuits--a prime cause of 
high health care costs to improve our health care system--excessive 
lawsuits. In a recent survey of Georgia doctors, approximately 18 
percent expect to stop providing high-risk procedures to limit their 
liability risk. Nearly 33 percent of obstetrician/gynecologists and 20 
percent of family practitioners said they will abandon high-risk 
procedures, such as delivering babies. More than 11 percent will stop 
providing emergency room services to reduce liability risk. Rising 
medical malpractice insurance rates are making it difficult for doctors 
to continue the life-saving work they love. We all want high quality, 
affordable health care and we all want to maintain an American system 
of medicine that serves as the model of proficiency and innovation. But 
our doctors and hospitals are being wrongly sued, we're paying more to 
receive quality care, and we are losing quality doctors. I urge my 
colleagues to pass medical liability reform.

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