After the economy and the war on terror, health care is one of the top concerns of voters as the election season picks up. You can’t have a real debate about the quality and affordability of health care in the United States without discussing malpractice reform and where the candidates stand on the issues. Frivolous lawsuits pass the cost along to the American people and learning where the candidates stand on this critical issue will quickly reveal how committed they are to helping deliver quality and affordable health care to the American people.

As a trial lawyer who has made millions from malpractice cases, John Edwards has drawn this issue prominently into the campaign spotlight. Doctors in many fields are facing insurance premiums which have increased drastically during the current get-rich-quick craze for lawsuits.

Clearly, not all of these lawsuits are legitimate. Many doctors, often good doctors, are being driven out of business. They are packing up offices, closing practices, and even entire hospital departments have shut down leaving patients with fewer, more expensive care options especially in rural regions.

As a veteran professional myself, I went through the six-year ordeal of fighting a frivolous lawsuit. In my case, the jury saw the scheming nature of my lawsuit and found the charges against me were unsubstantiated within minutes of their deliberating. Unfortunately, the trauma and cost of the drawn out litigation process ruined my respected practice of over 20 years and crippled my family life.

What was the purpose of this devastating experience? It gave someone the possibility of winning the “lawsuit lottery,” which would potentially make them and their attorney huge amounts of money and provide more reason to increase insurance costs on health care professionals.

How can Americans expect John Edwards, a part of the problem, to make responsible malpractice reform decisions in Congress to control rising health care costs in America? Sen. Edwards sponsored a bill that would allow for huge lawsuits against HMOs, directly benefiting trial lawyers and opposing caps on malpractice awards. John Edwards the trial lawyer is part of the problem and John Edwards, the senator, is obstructing reasonable attempts to deliver a cure ? and he hasn’t acted alone.

John Kerry stood at the podium accepting his party’s nomination promising Americans the world by telling them what he will not do. But what has he done? Kerry promised affordable and quality health care while voting against a landmark prescription drug bill for America’s seniors and he opposed or voted to block liability reform on at least 10 occasions. He criticizes the president and the Republican Party for their health care proposals but after 19 years in the Senate has offered no plans of his own. In fact, he criticized his own party for insisting on health care reform in 1994 because it was a major cause for Democrats’ polling problems.

Anyone who understands malpractice certainly understands there are true victims who seek just compensation for poor or negligent care. It would be detrimental to our health care system to deny patients compensation for fraudulent care because our nation’s health care system must have liability and accountability measures. But lawyers pushing frivolous lawsuits must stop.

President Bush and the Republican Congress have developed a framework for addressing the liability crisis. The president has asked Congress to secure the ability of injured patients to get quick and unlimited compensation for economic losses. He has called to limit non-economic and punitive damages and proposes to reduce the amount a doctor must pay if a plaintiff has received other payments from an insurer. These are just some of the plans Bush has proposed.

The Kerry-Edwards ticket is clearly the wrong choice for Americans of responsibility. They provide no solutions beyond empty rhetoric. The need to realize affordable and accessible health care is not just an election issue; it is a personal, life-or-death issue that demands real solutions.

Americans will still need health care long after the election on Nov. 2. It’s good for us that President Bush will be sitting at his desk in the Oval Office to deliver results.

Robin Aston, Ed.D., lives in Gouldsboro.