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Column/OP-ED |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski |
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Temporary moratorium is needed on all health insurance premiums
By State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski
In the last 10 months, our nation has experienced an economic upheaval of seismic proportions. This global financial collapse has negatively impacted the Commonwealth and continues to threaten not only our most vulnerable citizens, but also the collective livelihoods of every single working Pennsylvanian. Yet even in the midst of these grim times, I remain confident that, if we work together, we can emerge from this historic crisis with a stronger and more vibrant state economy. For that reason, as we in state government grapple with the difficult choices associated with this upcoming state budget, I am respectfully requesting that health insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies consider a temporary and voluntary moratorium on all increases in premiums and prices until we begin to recover from this extraordinary and unprecedented global financial collapse. This action would help ease the financial burden that weighs heavy upon every man, woman and child in Pennsylvania.
In September 2008, there was little indication of the financial catastrophe looming before us. Pennsylvania’s fiscal state was strong – there was $750 million in the Rainy Day Fund and a surplus anticipated to be as high as $500 million. On Sept. 18, 2008, everything changed. As the global and national financial markets collapsed, initial estimates projected a state budget deficit of approximately $1.3 billion in November 2008. The deficit projection continued to balloon, along with unemployment, to $2.4 billion in February 2009, eventually settling at $3.2 billion in May 2009 – the largest in state history. The effects of a deficit of this size will be far-reaching and felt in every corner of the state by countless Pennsylvanians as essential programs for children, the elderly and individuals with disabilities face brutal funding cuts and no state agency or department is spared a careful examination of their appropriations.
This shortfall is not the fault of our citizens, our businesses, or our state and local governments, but rather the direct result of the national and global degradation of the financial markets. Yet the successful recovery from this historic financial crisis rests upon our shoulders and will require prudent fiscal management, increased revenues, and the development of a cohesive dedicated attitude by all Americans to share the pain by working and sacrificing together. We all must have the courage to endure this challenge in order to forge a new set of standards and safeguards to provide a path to prolonged recovery and future financial stability. We can no longer allow ourselves to be guided solely by the profit and bottom-line principals that led us down this path in the first place. We each carry a responsibility as an American citizen to preserve the strength of our democracy and protect our freedoms through honest and well-formulated decisions.
It is not my intent to initiate a debate on the state of our health-care system in the Commonwealth at this time. Those discussions are ongoing and there will be more appropriate opportunities for that conversation to occur. Nonetheless, as we evaluate the financial pressures facing the our citizens, it is impossible to ignore the fact that health insurance premiums increased by approximately 86 percent from 2000 to 2007 and the combined health insurance costs to employers and workers for a family of four in Pennsylvania is equal to 24 percent of the state’s median income. Prescription drug costs have seen similar spikes and contribute to the overall health-care premium cost by 15 percent to 25 percent.
I sincerely appreciate the consistent, reliable and high-quality service the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries provide to our state and, I do not expect, nor would I ask, them to do anything that would prevent them from maintaining positive fiscal stability. Nonetheless, I am appealing to their spirit of American humanitarianism and agree to make this gesture. This will be an inspiring and meaningful expression of their love for America and their fellow man and I only hope others will follow.