PCI Commends President Bush in State of the Union Address

In his State of the Union Address Tuesday evening, President Bush addressed issues vital to the nation and the business community, including new initiatives to strengthen economic growth, reform the legal system, enhance education and job training, and contain the rising cost of health care.

“The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) commends President Bush for stressing the need for legal reform as part of his 2004 agenda for jobs and economic growth. PCI strongly supports the need for class action reform, medical liability reform and asbestos litigation reform, and we hope to see legislation early this year that will help consumers and businesses protect themselves against the current rash of frivolous lawsuits crippling our economy,” said Carl Parks, senior vice president, federal government relations, PCI.

As part of his initiative on health care in the United States, President Bush addressed the impact of frivolous lawsuits on health care costs and the importance of eliminating wasteful and frivolous medical lawsuits.

“Controlling the costs of health care and litigation which are cost drivers for everything from auto to commercial general liability policies will help to reduce the cost of the coverage insurers provide. In particular the medical component of health care costs is rising well in excess of the current rate of inflation. Even a small decrease in these costs can translate into significant aggregate savings for our customers,” added Parks.