House Majority Policy Committee to hold hearing on state health care

Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-63rd District), chair of the House Majority Policy Committee, announced Wednesday that the committee would hold a public hearing to examine the potential negative impacts of the proposed repeal of a medical malpractice lawsuit rule.

The hearing will take place on Feb. 12 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem.

The Civil Procedural Rules Committee has proposed eliminating a rule against “venue shopping” in medical malpractice lawsuits. Venue shopping refers to a practice in which attorneys move medical liability claims to counties that typically award higher payouts. The rule was enacted in the early 2000s as part of a series of reforms designed to protect against increasing medical liability rates.

“Pennsylvanians’ access to quality health care is in jeopardy,” Oberlander said. “The court is looking to reverse all the progress that has been made over the past 16 years to ensure critical access to health care – and that has the potential to cripple Pennsylvania’s health care industry and break the valued bond between patients and their doctors. This is especially detrimental in rural and underserved areas that already have challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians and specialists. We must let the court know about the dire impact this could have.”

The General Assembly can submit comments on the pending change until Feb. 22.