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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Jay
Purdy |
State Rep. Thomas
Blackwell |
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Blackwell joins call to pass governor’s health-care reform plan
HARRISBURG, May 23 – State Rep. Thomas Blackwell, D-Phila., today joined a number of legislative colleagues and several hundred supporters at a state Capitol rally in favor of the Prescription for Pennsylvania health-care reform plan advanced by Gov. Ed Rendell.
“The health-care system in Pennsylvania is sick and it is not getting any better,” said Blackwell. “Each day that passes without reform represents another day of working adults not being able to afford basic health care and another day of millions of dollars being poured into a costly, inefficient and inadequate system.
“Prescription for Pennsylvania is the cure for those problems. Each day that we have to wait for it to pass, people suffer, and the businesses and individuals who pay insurance premiums pay more money.”
In Pennsylvania, 376,000 people between the ages of 18 and 34 are uninsured and more than 200,000 people have been without health insurance for more than five years. Many of the
uninsured work full-time but are unable to afford insurance because their employers can’t afford to offer health benefits, or the employee co-pay is too high.
Prescription for Pennsylvania would address that issue by making affordable health-care coverage available to businesses and individuals alike.
In addition to the comprehensive plan to address affordable insurance, Prescription for Pennsylvania would greatly improve access to health care by allowing nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants, pharmacists, dental hygienists and other licensed health-care providers to practice to the full extent of their training. The legislation also would target hospital-acquired infections and avoidable medical errors by requiring hospitals to use state-of-the-art patient safety practices and electronic health records.
The various bills that together compose the plan are currently under study in House committees. Any bills that pass the House also will have to win approval from the Republican-controlled Senate.
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