Unless Illinois legislators take action to restrict the skyrocketing costs of medical malpractice suits, Illinois residents will be forced to take a cue from their doctors and move to Wisconsin for adequate health care.

A bill in the Illinois House of Representatives would put a cap on the damages awarded in medical malpractice suits – and, ultimately, improve health care in Illinois for everyone.

Legislators need to recognize that House Bill 7278 is the right way to do this. The $500,000 cap on malpractice suits proposed in the bill would weed out the frivolous, multi-million dollar lawsuits that have bogged down the health care system as of late.

Quality healthcare can’t be achieved without doctors, and doctors are leaving the state in droves because of rising insurance rates. Illinois already has 12 percent fewer practicing doctors than the national average.

The doctors who do stay have no choice but to pass the rising costs off to their patients. The cost of NIU employees’ health insurance has gone up each year because doctors have to charge more for services just to cover their own insurance costs.

This trend isn’t likely to slow anytime in the future – unless action to stop it is taken.

Other states already have taken similar action. A California law puts a $250,000 cap on lawsuits. And the reason so many Illinois doctors have moved to Wisconsin is because the state has a cap system there, Ken Printen, president of the Illinois State Medical Society, told the Northern Star.

Of course, families who have been affected by medical malpractice probably won’t support the bill. But while the proposed bill limits the amount of money received from a suit, no amount of money can make up for the grief that malpractice cases cause.

Something needs to be done to keep doctors in Illinois – where they are sorely needed. House Bill 7278 might not magically fix the system, but it’s a place to start.