WASHINGTON -- Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., introduced legislation Thursday that would provide grants to 10 states to set up pilot projects they hope will answer the problem of medical malpractice lawsuits.

A new system must be developed to bring down malpractice insurance premiums while protecting patient safety and ensuring compensation to those hurt by medical errors, the senators said.

"If we can move beyond the broken process used today, patients won't lose access to affordable care when doctors raise their rates or even move away to find cheaper malpractice premiums,'' Baucus said. "Doctors can be more forthcoming when mistakes are made.''

"What we're trying to do is give some first aid to medical liability,'' Enzi said. "We're trying to provide a fair and fast and just system for people to get compensated, and it will also free up doctors so they can be in the operating room instead of the courtroom.''

The senators said the constant threat of lawsuits drives doctors to order more tests or provide more treatment than necessary out of fear of being sued. Doctors face ever-increasing malpractice insurance premiums. And injured patients often end up with wildly different compensation depending on the judge and jury they are assigned, they added.

The Fair and Reliable Medical Justice Act of 2007 would help address all those problems, they said.

Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, introduced the legislation in the House.

The senators sponsored similar legislation in the last Congress. Enzi is the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, while Baucus heads the Senate Finance panel.

The bill would authorize funding to create demonstration programs to test alternatives to current medical tort litigation. The Health and Human Services Department would award grants to states to develop and test different set-ups in hopes of finding a system that could work across the country.

For instance, states could establish a special health court to adjudicate disputes over injuries, ensuring that the presiding judges have expertise in health care.

The grants may last for up to five years.

To apply for a grant, a state must develop an alternative to its current system for resolving medical malpractice claims and reducing medical errors. States must show how their plans would provide prompt and fair dispute resolution, encourage early disclosure of medical errors, enhance patient safety, maintain access to liability insurance and provide patients with the choice to opt out. The plans can cover a geographic region, an area of health care practice or a group of health care providers or organizations.

States plans must also allow for the collection and analysis of patient safety data by groups that work on that issue or on improving the quality of health care.

An individual from the Government Accountability Office will chair the panel of experts that will review the applications. States that receive grants must submit an annual report evaluating the effectiveness of the activities.

The panel of experts will then analyze the effect of the grants and make comparisons between the different alternatives and with states not receiving grants.