Pennsylvania is Home to many quality health-care facilities. But more than 1 million Pennsylvanians do not have health insurance or the means to afford it. With health-care costs continuing to rise, we must reform our health-care system to make it more affordable, and improve its overall quality. Reforming health care also is key to strengthening our economy.

House Democrats introduced a package of bills that address the challenges many Pennsylvania families and small businesses face.

House Democrats' Health PAct

Expansion of Pennsylvania's adultBasic Program

House Bill 1

There are more than 1 million uninsured residents in Pennsylvania. House Bill 1 would build upon the current adultBasic program by adding 130,000 more people to the program and ensuring the following benefits:

• preventive and wellness care
• chronic care and disease management
• inpatient and outpatient behavioral health
• prescription medication

These coverage enhancements will help to control costs in the delivery of health-care services to chronic care patients, and will provide a framework for coverage that the federal government requires, in order for the Commonwealth to gain the federal funding necessary to sustain the program in the future.

Status: Passed the House 6/29/09, Awaiting Senate Action

Preventable Serious Adverse Events Act

House Bill 84

The bill would establish the "Preventable Serious Adverse Events Act," defining a serious adverse event as one that occurs in a health-care facility that is within the health-care provider's control to avoid, but that occurs because of an error or other system failure.

This bill would prohibit a health-care provider who is responsible for causing an error or other system failure - which results in a patient's death, loss of body part, disfigurement, disability or long-lasting loss of bodily function - from seeking payment from a health payor, patient or other responsible party of the patient.

There is no law in Pennsylvania addressing the payment policy for preventable serious adverse events. Health payors and/or policy holders should not bear the cost of preventable serious adverse events.

This legislation follows recent policy changes by the Medicare program and Pennsylvania's Medical Assistance (MA) program to deny payments for such events.

Status: Signed by the governor. Act 1 of 2009.

Identify and Reduce Medical Errors (PHC4)

House Bill 173 (Companion Bill Senate Bill 89)

A state agency that works to save lives by monitoring the performance of health-care providers would continue under this legislation. The 22-year-old Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) compiles data from health maintenance organizations and hospitals on surgical outcomes, quality of care, infection rates, and hospital finances. The agency is crucial to controlling health-care costs for all Pennsylvanians.

Status: Signed by the governor. Act 3 of 2009.

COBRA for Small-Business Workers

House Bill 1089

The legislation would give laid-off workers who have health coverage through their small-business employer the right to continue coverage through COBRA. The measure would make COBRA coverage available to employers with fewer than 20 workers. It also would give these workers access to federal dollars made available by the federal stimulus package to help reduce COBRA costs.

Status: Signed by the governor. Act 2 of 2009.

Fair Group Insurance Rates for Small Business

House Bill 746

The legislation would establish fair group insurance rates for Pennsylvania small businesses that employ between two and 50 employees. A standard small group plan would be offered by all insurers so consumers can make easy comparisons in rates. The bill also would require public and private universities and graduate programs to make a standard health insurance package available to students that can be purchased at an affordable rate.

Status: Passed the House 6/29/09, Awaiting Senate Action

Health Coverage for Older Children

House Bill 838  (Companion Bill Senate Bill 189)

In today's economy, many young adults are waiting to enroll in college in order to help with family expenses or cannot find a job when they graduate. This bill would extend parents' health insurance coverage to their uninsured children through age 29. It would require health insurers to give insured parents or guardians the option of having their coverage extended to include an uninsured child through age 29. The insured person would be able to exercise this option at any time during the term of the policy. Employers would not be required to contribute to any premium increase that resulted, but could agree to do so.

Status: Signed by the governor. Act 4 of 2009.

Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers

House Bill 926

The legislation would continue the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers, created by Gov. Ed Rendell in 2004, beyond the current administration. Among its duties, the center would continue to focus on workforce demands, examine recruitment and retention efforts, review diversity strategies within the industry, and assess the state's medical education and training programs. A Health Careers Leadership Council would oversee center activities.

The Center's mission is to:

• Increase the capacity of Pennsylvania's nursing education system
• Retain workers in health-care professions
• Respond to the demand for critical allied health professions
• Address the needs of direct care workers

Status: Passed the House 5/4/09, awaiting Senate action