But Michael Gottesman, a professor with the Georgetown University Law Center who represents the plaintiff, Abigail Lebron, disagrees. He agrees that there was a problem but there was no evidence to suggest that exorbitant jury awards were the culprit.
   “It is a constant cry all over the country that plaintiff’s awards in these cases are out of sight,” Gottesman said. “The Rand Corp. has done study after study of this and found that it isn’t true, but that doesn’t stop people from claiming it. By constant repetition they’ve actually implanted in the public mind the belief that jury awards are out of sight. The only thing that is undermining that claim, however, is the fact that the actual data shows it isn’t true.”
   Gottesman says that what really was at fault was that ISMIE had a virtual monopoly on medical malpractice insurance in the state and was reaping large profits. He said that for the five years before the law was enacted, ISMIE’s payouts were flat but its revenues were skyrocketing.
   “What the state really needed was regulation of the insurance companies,” Gottesman said. “But the insurance companies lobbied and said,

   What specific measures can Illinois take to try to bring its workers’ compensation insurance costs in line with neighboring states?
   Workers’ compensation costs for Illinois employers are higher than any of its bordering states, according to Jay Shattuck, executive director of the Illinois Chamber Employment Law Council. Illinois’ average total cost per claim, he says, is $21,335 - compared to Indiana’s $10,517, Wisconsin’s $11,342, Iowa’s $14,292 and Missouri’s $17,309.