President Bush pushes liability reform. (Short Takes).

In an effort to contain health care costs, President Bush has called for a complete overhaul of the medical liability insurance system. In a speech at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, a state where malpractice premiums have soared, the president declared that the skyrocketing costs were driving doctors out of medicine and boosting the medical costs paid by everyone.

"The problem of those unnecessary costs isn't in the waiting room or the operating room--they're in the courtroom, Bush says.

He proposed capping pain-and-suffering awards in malpractice cases to $250,000. Punitive damages would be reserved for extreme cases and set at reasonable amounts. With Republicans in control of both Houses of Congress, the administration is convinced that the proposals have a better chance than they did last year.

The proposals drew mixed reviews.

* Leading Democratic presidential candidates panned the idea Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri called the cap "heartless."

* Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina placed blame for higher premiums on the losses incurred in the stock market by insurance companies.

* The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which represents plaintiffs in malpractice cases, likewise blasted the proposals.

* The American Medical Association, in contrast, welcomed the reforms saying that it would end "jackpot justice."

James A. Hawkins in a health care writer based in Aiken, S.C. He can be reached by phone at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].