For Immediate Release
6/10/08

- Sen. Erickson
- Sen. Corman
- Sen. D. White
- Sen. Wonderling
- Sen. Eichelberger
- Sen. Folmer
- Sen. Pileggi
- News Conference

Senate Republicans Announce Health Care Package to Improve Access and Affordability

HealthNET PA expands insurance coverage, boosts community care and cuts costs. 

Harrisburg – Senate Republicans today announced a comprehensive health care package designed to improve health care access and affordability by building on approaches that are working and doing it in a fiscally responsible way.

Pennsylvania is ranked fifth-best in the nation in the number of citizens covered by health insurance, with 92 percent of the population covered. Nearly 16 percent of Pennsylvanians, or 2 million residents, are already covered by government-subsidized health care.

HealthNET PA is a $100 million blueprint that expands access to health care and medicine to 507,000 uninsured and low-income working Pennsylvanians. It utilizes information technology to control costs and reduce health care-associated infections, and provides expanded insurance options for employers and families.

"This is a comprehensive, realistic health care package, with continual, annual funding. It's one that improves access to health care, because insurance doesn't equal care. And it actually controls costs, rather than simply shift them around," said Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Ted Erickson (R-26).

Features of the 15-bill HealthNET PA package include the following:

• Improving Access to Health Care and Medicines
  • Establishing the Community-Based Healthcare Program for the expansion and site development of health care clinics across Pennsylvania to provide "medical homes" for 175,000 working poor clients and ease pressure on hospital emergency rooms.
  • Implementing a physician/health care facility volunteer program through which an additional 159,000 uninsured patients would be assigned to a primary or specialty care physician, with access to free specialty care, labs and inpatient hospital care.
  • Creating a registry of free prescription drugs and allowing retail establishment pharmacies to sell prescription drugs at a minimal cost, such as $4.
• Making Health Care More Affordable
  • Helping hospitals and doctors' offices convert to Electronic Medical Records, boosting evidence-based diagnosis and treatment protocols, and encouraging Telemedicine expansion.
  • Permitting health insurers to withhold payment to providers in the event of a medical error, and allowing employers to establish "Healthy Living Committees" qualifying for insurance discounts.
  • Providing funding of a critical cost-saver – the reduction of health care-associated infections.
• Expanding Insurance Coverage
  • Providing "Mini-Cobra" coverage for small business employers, creating a high-risk pool for individuals who cannot access other coverage, and extending the option of dependent coverage to age 30. (Nearly half of uninsured Pennsylvanians are age 18-34.)
  • Provide $5 million in state tax credits for the use of Health Savings Accounts.

The 507,000 Pennsylvanians served by the $100 million plan is more than double the number projected to be covered after five years under Gov. Rendell's $1.4 billion health care proposal, and almost four times the number projected to be covered in the second year.

HealthNET PA will be funded through existing sources. Approximately $225 million is annually deposited into the Health Care Provider Retention Account from the current cigarette tax and the CAT Fund surcharge. An estimated $125 million a year is needed to fully fund the current MCARE abatement, which makes the remaining $100 million available for HealthNET PA.

As of June 30, 2008, approximately $500 million exists in the Health Care Provider Retention Account, which can be used to eliminate the MCARE unfunded liability when it comes due.

Joining Senator Erickson to announce the HealthNET PA initiatives were: Senate Banking and Insurance Committee Chairman Don White (R-41), Sen. Jake Corman (R-34), Sen. Rob Wonderling (R-24), Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9), Sen. Pat Vance (R-31), Sen. Mike Folmer (R-48), Sen. Pat Browne (R-16), and Sen. John Eichelberger (R-30).

Operators of community health centers were also on hand to discuss HealthNET PA. They included: Dr. Zane Gates, Medical Director, Partnering for Health Services in Altoona; Cindy Christ, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers; Kathy Scullin, Vice President, Crozer-Keystone Health System in Upland; and Ed Pitchford, President and CEO, Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport.

CONTACTS:

Tom Golden (Sen. Erickson) – 717-787-1350
Joe Pittman (Sen. White) – 717-787-8724
Don Houser (Sen. Corman) – 717-772-0468
Liz Ferry (Sen. Wonderling) – 215-368-1500

Additional Information:
Health Care

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