Exhibit 31.1

# CERTIFICATI0N PURSUANT
TO

# 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,

# AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

# SECTION 302 OF THE
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

| | I,
William W. Hunt, certify that
| | --------------------------------

| | 1. | I
have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Penn Treaty American Corporation;
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| | 2. | Based
on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or
omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the
period covered by this report;
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| | 3. | Based
on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information
          included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
          condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and
          for, the periods presented in this report;
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| | 4. | The
registrants other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
          Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and we have:
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| | (a) | designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure           controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that           material
information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
          subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
          during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | (b) | evaluated
the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and           procedures
and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness           of the
disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by           this
report based on such evaluation; and
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| | (c) | disclosed
in this report any change in the registrants internal control           over
financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent
          fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
          materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial
          reporting;
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| | 5. | The
registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on
          our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
          registrants auditors and the audit committee of registrants board
of           directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
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| | (a) | all
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control overfinancial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrants
ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
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| | (b) | any
fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
               who have a significant role in the registrants internal control over
               financial reporting.
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|                    |  |                                                      
|------------------- |  | -----------------------------------------------------
|Date:  May 17, 2004 |  | /s/ William W. Hunt                                  
|                    |  | William W. Hunt
President and
Chief Executive Officer