Political Quotes

“I am here today to stand in strong support of S. 22 and S. 23. I do so as a Senator from Pennsylvania representing a State that has been racked by the consequences of having a tort liability system that is simply out of balance, out of whack. That imbalance is causing real tragedies to occur on a daily basis in the Commonwealth. People are not getting access to the kind of care they deserve because, as I will lay out in great detail, physicians are leaving the State and hospitals are closing down because of the cost of awards, in particular in areas that serve high-risk patients in some of our communities where there are underserved populations, whether they are inner city or very rural. Patients are not getting access, whether it is to neurosurgery or high-risk obstetrics or orthopedic care and other types of high-risk specialties, and physicians are leaving areas in our State, both rural and urban, because of this liability crisis. I had hoped that the Commonwealth itself and our State legislature would have responded to this problem. They have tried on a couple of occasions, and the Governor has vetoed legislation to make that happen, and so we are here today to try to solve this problem on a national level. I believe that while Pennsylvania is severely impacted, probably as much as any State in the country, this is a problem which has national impact. It impacts the Medicare and Medicaid system which this Congress and which the Federal Government pay for.…”