When most Pennsylvania families think about the rising cost of living, they think about groceries, gas, and rent. But a quieter, less visible force is making the Keystone State more expensive, and it starts not at the checkout counter but in the courtroom.
A major new academic study by researchers from Georgia State University and Brighthouse Financial analyzed more than 74,000 jury verdicts and settlements nationwide from 2009 through 2024 and reached a sobering conclusion: civil liability costs are rising well beyond what ordinary inflation can explain. Economists and insurers call this "social inflation," and it is fueled primarily by rapidly growing jury verdicts. As former state Representative Chris Schroder wrote in the Reading Eagle:
"A verdict that merely kept pace with inflation would reflect the declining value of a dollar. Social inflation is the additional increase caused by changes in litigation behavior, jury expectations, and the legal environment."
The consequences are not abstract. Businesses, hospitals, physicians, schools, trucking companies, and retailers all buy liability insurance. When verdicts climb, premiums follow. Those costs travel directly into health care bills, prices on store shelves, and decisions by employers about where to hire and invest. As Schroder put it plainly: "The public ultimately pays the cost of larger and less predictable lawsuits."
Philadelphia recorded 12 verdicts of at least $10 million in 2024 alone, more than any year dating back to 2017, with a median damages award of $192,664, nearly double the previous high. Two proposals now before the General Assembly would make the problem worse: House Bill 1913 would allow plaintiff attorneys to suggest specific pain and suffering figures during closing arguments, a tactic that research shows inflates verdicts. Pennsylvania also has no consumer protections governing third-party litigation funding, and the study found "stronger social inflation in states without regulation of that practice."
Other states have demonstrated that commonsense lawsuit abuse reforms deliver real relief. Florida's experience is instructive: after passing meaningful legal reforms, major insurers including GEICO, Progressive, and State Farm filed for auto insurance rate reductions ranging from 6% to 10.5%. Litigation over glass repairs alone dropped 90% between the second quarters of 2023 and 2024. Florida proved that reform works, and that insurers do pass savings on to consumers when the legal environment improves.
Pennsylvania's lawmakers face a clear choice. Every proposal touching civil liability should be evaluated against a single standard: will it make the Commonwealth more affordable or less? Anchoring provisions and unregulated litigation funding tilt the scales toward larger verdicts, more uncertainty, and higher costs for every family, patient, and small business in the state. A fair civil justice system must compensate people who are genuinely harmed. It must also preserve the balance and predictability that keep Pennsylvania competitive and its residents able to afford the basics of daily life. The evidence is clear. It is time for Pennsylvania to act.