WILLIAMS CALLS ON SENATE LEADERSHIP TO HELP DOCTORS

Harrisburg, Dec. 9, 2003 – A crisis of epidemic proportions is being visited on Pennsylvania and according to state Sen. Connie Williams, every Pennsylvanian could suffer.

During a Capitol news conference today, Williams spoke of Pennsylvania’s Medical Malpractice Insurance crisis and the need for Senate members to act quickly to bring about a resolution that will ensure medical doctors and specialists are available for Pennsylvanians.

“It has been frustrating to witness the inaction of the Legislature to enact a revenue source to address the short-term Mcare abatement problem,” Williams said. “It’s equally frustrating that some of Senate leadership has refused even to place a vote on caps on the Senate calendar, so that each senator has the opportunity to show you where they stand on the issue. In the meantime, doctors continue to leave the state, abandoning their patients.”

For several years, Williams has been an outspoken advocate on the issue, but acknowledges that her voice alone will not convince Senate majority leadership to act.

“In the past, I’ve encouraged my constituents to lobby the majority leadership, but their calls and letters are simply referred back to my office,” Williams said. “These Pennsylvanians don’t have the opportunity to vote for these particular Senators so their voices fall on deaf ears.”

According to Williams, Senators Brightbill and Jubelier need to hear from their doctors and their patients who care about the issue.

“Their constituents need to mount an aggressive campaign to convince these two leaders that their constituents, those who have the ability to vote for them, care about this issue and won’t go away until the Senate schedules a vote,” Williams said.

A number of physicians spoke during the news conference, talking about the dire emergency in Pennsylvania – problems with access to neurosurgery, obstetrics and orthopedic surgery, a well as limiting care in emergency rooms. A survey of emergency department directors found that 68 percent do not have enough specialists to cover on-call hours.

More than 50 health-care organizations signed a letter directed to Gov. Ed Rendell and the Pennsylvania General Assembly that demanded a comprehensive package that includes both short-term relief and long-term solutions to fix patient access problems associated with the liability insurance crisis.

To address the medical malpractice crisis, Williams has introduced several pieces of legislation and has asked her Senate colleagues to move them from committees. Williams’ bills would: allow health-care professionals to jointly negotiate contracts with insurers (S.B. 202); create a tax credit against professional insurance premiums (S.B. 203); create a separate court system to resolve medical liability cases (S.B. 204); propose a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to limit the recovery amount for non-economic damages, limited to only medical malpractice cases (S.B. 728); and alter the standard the courts use when they consider a Motion for Remittitur in medical malpractice cases (S.B. 862). Remittitur is the process by which a court can reduce the damages awarded in a jury verdict.