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The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) broadly hailed the introduction by State Senator Jake Corman (R-Centre) of a resolution that begins the process of limiting non-economic damages through constitutional amendment.
“The deteriorating professional liability insurance environment necessitates a focus on longer-term tort reform efforts to stabilize and improve the liability insurance market,” stated Stuart Fine, CEO of Grand View Hospital in Bucks County, at a Capitol news conference. “I applaud Senator Corman for his leadership on this critical legal reform.”
“This is a significant milestone in the effort to enact structural reforms to Pennsylvania’s liability insurance and tort systems,” indicated Carolyn F. Scanlan, president and CEO of HAP. “The constitutional amendment proposed today will start the public process of determining if we need to place reasonable limits on excessive non-economic damage awards.”
Fine stressed that the reforms enacted in 2002 and the short-term relief plan put forth by Gov.-elect Rendell’s medical liability task force must work in concert with today’s proposal. “Both the short-term and long-term fixes are essential to forging a lasting solution to the crisis.”