EXHIBIT 99.(a)(4)

                              BROKER DEALER LETTER

                        PENN TREATY AMERICAN CORPORATION

        OFFER TO EXCHANGE 6-1/4% CONVERTIBLE SUBORDINATED NOTES DUE 2008
                               FOR ALL OUTSTANDING
                 6-1/4% CONVERTIBLE SUBORDINATED NOTES DUE 2003



                                                                 August 28, 2002

To:  Brokers, Dealers, Commercial Banks, Trust Companies and Other Nominees:

         Penn Treaty American Corporation ("Penn Treaty") is offering to
exchange (the "Exchange Offer"), upon and subject to the terms and conditions
set forth in the Offering Circular, dated August 28, 2002 (the "Offering
Circular"), and the enclosed Letter of Transmittal (the "Letter of
Transmittal"), its 6-1/4% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2008 (the
"Exchange Notes") for all outstanding 6-1/4% Convertible Subordinated Notes due
2003 (the "Subordinated Notes").

         We are requesting that you contact your clients for whom you hold
Subordinated Notes regarding the Exchange Offer. For your information and for
forwarding to your clients for whom you hold Subordinated Notes registered in
your name or in the name of your nominee, or who hold Subordinated Notes
registered in their own names, we are enclosing the following documents:

                  1.       Offering Circular, dated August 28, 2002;

                  2.       The Letter of Transmittal for your use and for the
         information of your clients;

                  3.       A Notice of Guaranteed Delivery to be used to accept
         the Exchange Offer if certificates for the Subordinated Notes are not
         immediately available, time will not permit all required documents to
         reach the Exchange Agent prior to the Expiration Date (as defined
         below), or if the procedure for book-entry transfer cannot be completed
         on a timely basis;

                  4.       A form of letter which may be sent to your clients
         for whose account you hold Subordinated Notes registered in your name
         or the name of your nominee, with space provided for obtaining such
         clients' instructions with regard to the Exchange Offer; and

                  5.       Guidelines for Certification of Taxpayer
         Identification Number on Substitute Form W-9.



         YOUR PROMPT ACTION IS REQUESTED. THE EXCHANGE OFFER WILL EXPIRE AT
12:00 A.M., NEW YORK CITY TIME, ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2002, UNLESS EXTENDED BY
PENN TREATY (AS IT MAY BE EXTENDED, "THE EXPIRATION DATE"). THE SUBORDINATED
NOTES TENDERED PURSUANT TO THE EXCHANGE OFFER MAY BE WITHDRAWN AT ANY TIME
BEFORE THE EXPIRATION DATE OR AT ANY TIME AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2002 IF WE HAVE
NOT ACCEPTED THE TENDERED SUBORDINATED NOTES FOR EXCHANGE BY THAT DATE.

         Unless a holder of the Subordinated Notes complies with the procedures
described in the Offering Circular under the caption "The Exchange Offer -
Guaranteed Delivery Procedures," the holder must do one of the following on or
prior to the Expiration Date to participate in the Exchange Offer:

     o   tender the Subordinated Notes by sending the certificates for the
         Subordinated Notes, in proper form for transfer, a properly completed
         and duly executed Letter of Transmittal, with any required signature
         guarantees, and all other documents required by the Letter of
         Transmittal, to Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Exchange Agent, at
         the address listed in the Offering Circular under the caption "The
         Exchange Offer - Exchange Agent"; or

     o   tender the Subordinated Notes by using the book-entry procedures
         described in the Offering Circular under the caption "The Exchange
         Offer - Book Entry Transfer" and transmitting a properly completed and
         duly executed Letter of Transmittal, with any required signature
         guarantees, or an Agent's Message (defined below) instead of the Letter
         of Transmittal, to the Exchange Agent.

         In order for a book-entry transfer to constitute a valid tender of
Subordinated Notes in the Exchange Offer, the Exchange Agent must receive a
confirmation of book-entry transfer (a "Book-Entry Confirmation") of the
Subordinated Notes into the Exchange Agent's account at The Depository Trust
Company prior to the Expiration Date. The term "Agent's Message" means a
message, transmitted by The Depository Trust Company and received by the
Exchange Agent and forming a part of the Book-Entry Confirmation, which states
that The Depository Trust Company has received an express acknowledgment from
the tendering holder of Subordinated Notes that the holder has received and has
agreed to be bound by the Letter of Transmittal.

         If a registered holder of Subordinated Notes wishes to tender the
Subordinated Notes in the Exchange Offer, but (a) the certificates for the
Subordinated Notes are not immediately available, (b) time will not permit the
certificates for the Subordinated Notes or other required documents to reach the
Exchange Agent before the Expiration Date, or (c) the procedure for book-entry
transfer cannot be completed before the Expiration Date, a tender of
Subordinated Notes may be effected by following the Guaranteed Delivery
Procedures described in the Offering Circular under the caption "The Exchange
Offer - Guaranteed Delivery Procedures."

         Penn Treaty will, upon request, reimburse brokers, dealers, commercial
banks, trust companies and other nominees for reasonable and necessary costs and
expenses incurred by them in forwarding the Offering Circular and the related
documents to the beneficial owners of Subordinated Notes held by them as nominee
or in a fiduciary capacity. Penn Treaty will pay or


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cause to be paid all stock transfer taxes applicable to the exchange of
Subordinated Notes in the Exchange Offer, except as set forth in Instruction 13
of the Letter of Transmittal.

         Any inquiries you may have with respect to the Exchange Offer, or
requests for additional copies of the enclosed materials, should be directed to
Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A., the Exchange Agent for the Exchange Offer, at
its address and telephone number set forth on the front of the Letter of
Transmittal or Philadelphia Brokerage Corporation, the Information Agent for the
Exchange Offer, at the address and telephone numbers set forth in the Offering
Circular.

                                          Very truly yours,

                                          Penn Treaty American Corporation
Enclosures



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     NOTHING HEREIN OR IN THE ENCLOSED DOCUMENTS SHALL CONSTITUTE YOU OR ANY
OTHER PERSON AS AN AGENT OF PENN TREATY OR THE EXCHANGE AGENT, OR AUTHORIZE YOU
OR ANY OTHER PERSON TO USE ANY DOCUMENT OR MAKE ANY STATEMENTS ON BEHALF OF
EITHER OF THEM WITH RESPECT TO THE EXCHANGE OFFER, EXCEPT FOR STATEMENTS
EXPRESSLY MADE IN THE OFFERING CIRCULAR OR THE LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
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