Washington » In his health reform pitch to Congress, President Barack Obama promised to move on an issue near and dear to the hearts of many conservatives -- medical malpractice reform.

While they appreciated the mention, which was met with hearty applause, many Republicans in Washington were underwhelmed by his promise of "demonstration projects." The president has authorized the Health and Human Services Department to set up a grant program for states that would focus on ways to reduce costs stemming from patients' lawsuits against medical professionals.

But these projects would fall far short of the Republican goal to place a federal cap on damages for pain and suffering.

"Finally, he is acknowledging the problem and taking some initial steps," said Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. "But ultimately, it seemed more like lip service than a real commitment."

The president clearly intended his comments about malpractice reform to be an olive branch for the GOP and an indication that even if few Republicans end up voting for his broad reform proposal, he at least made some attempt to include their ideas.

"Many in this chamber -- particularly on the Republican side of the aisle -- have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care," he said in his joint address to Congress on Wednesday. "I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs."

Officials at Health and Human Services say they will provide specifics on how much money will go to these pilot projects and/or how states will access that cash within the month, but the White House has already given some indication of what projects they would like to see funded.

One idea is pre-litigation screening, where patients would have to present their claims to a panel of experts before going to court. The idea is that these experts, including doctors, could help weed out frivolous lawsuits. The second idea favored by the White House is early disclosure programs, where doctors or hospitals would fess up to errors, apologize and try to make amends before a lawsuit is ever filed.

A number of states already have pre-litigation panels, including Utah, which created its program in 1985. Utah's panels consist of a doctor, a lawyer and a lay person. Their finding is only a recommendation and does not limit someone's ability to sue.

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