|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Eugene DePasquale |
|
DePasquale touts benefits of proposal to cover uninsured Pennsylvanians
HARRISBURG, March 12 – State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, said he is supporting a proposal offered this week by House Democrats that would take the next step in reforming Pennsylvania's ailing health-care system without hurting the private insurance market.
The plan, known as Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care, would provide access to health-care coverage to more than 270,000 uninsured adults statewide, including the nearly 3,000 uninsured York County adults currently on the state's adultBasic program waiting list.
"We have made health-care reform a top priority over the last year, making significant progress in addressing this issue by allowing several health-care professionals to expand their scope of practice and improving programs that provide coverage for seniors and children," DePasquale said. "This plan is the next step and will fill in the gaps to help every day, hardworking people afford and obtain health-care coverage."
DePasquale said that PA ABC would be available to many uninsured adults at no cost; others earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $42,400 for a family of four, would pay premiums of $40 or $50 a month, based on income. Uninsured adults earning between 200 percent and 300 percent could access ABC for about $311 a month.
"The bulk of the adults who are uninsured in this Commonwealth work and are gainfully employed," he added. "What often happens is that they are denied coverage because of a preexisting condition or their premiums are far too expensive. So when they become sick they use our hospitals as their primary care physicians. Who picks up that tab? The state and all individuals who pay for private insurance through increased premiums."
PA ABC also would help small employers offer insurance coverage to their employees. Eligible employers that want to provide health coverage but can't afford to would be able to buy coverage through the program. Small businesses that have been providing coverage to their employees would qualify for state grants to cover a portion of their health-care costs.
In addition to providing coverage to uninsured citizens, PA ABC would include $258 million to help address the state's unfunded Mcare liability. The plan would continue the Mcare abatements for providers until 2017, and beginning in 2018, all medical malpractice insurance would be provided by the private market.
"This proposal is groundbreaking and comprehensive in its approach to reducing the skyrocketing costs of health-care in Pennsylvania, all the while addressing a significant need in our middle-class communities," DePasquale said. "It would lower the costs associated with covering the uninsured, which in turn would lower the costs of care for all Pennsylvanians, assist small businesses in providing coverage to their employees, and assist doctors by continuing abatements and paying down the Mcare unfunded liability. It would help hundreds of thousands of uninsured people all across this Commonwealth and now is the time to act."
###wt/2008/agh l:\print\releases\pa_abc.095