How Health Care Reform Accounts for 32 Million New Patients
Athena Ford 09/01/2010 - 5:28pm

    Suzanne Cohen, Public Affairs Coordinator for the Health Federation of Philadelphia, joined PHAN last night as the special guest on our call: Expanding Access to Primary Care. Participants were treated to a rather comprehensive presentation on the provisions within the new law set to expand this access, particularly when it comes to community health centers.

Getting the Truth Out to Seniors on Health Care Reform
Erin Gill 08/31/2010 - 2:12pm
Federal Health Care Reform, Federal Legislation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Seniors

Yesterday I had the chance to talk with hundreds of folks in Erie at a senior community fair, organized by State Representative John Hornaman. We shared a table with one of our great coalition partners, the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans to help get the word out to seniors about the benefits of health reform.

Seniors talking to seniors
Alison Hirsch 08/31/2010 - 2:12pm
Federal Legislation, medicare, Seniors

 

Throughout Pennsylvania, PHAN volunteers who are seniors themselves have been talking to fellow seniors about what's in the new health care law. To get the straight facts, and answers to complex questions, seniors can turn to these websites for factual information:

AARP

Alliance for Retired Americans

...

Leadership Training in Williamsport
Alison Hirsch 08/30/2010 - 1:44pm
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, training

We had a great group of people at PHAN's first Leadership Initiative Training Workshop in north-central PA: activists, small business owners, nurses, teachers, and community leaders. They had excellent questions about Medicare, how the reform is being funded, what the...

Tanning Tax and More..How Health Care Reform is Paid For
Athena Ford 08/24/2010 - 2:10pm

    As a state-wide health care organizer, PHAN keeps me fairly busy. I'm frequently traveling to some corner of the state for trainings on the weekends, in the office on weekday and in a meeting or work event come evenings. So, I don't find it terribly ludicrous to hold my schedule responsible for my utter ignorance of general pop-culture knowledge. (It was on a road trip over a month ago, for example, that Antoinette told me Miley Cyrus and...

PA One of 2 States Without Rate Review
Athena Ford 08/18/2010 - 4:42pm

Sharon Ward, Executive Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center and a member of PHAN's leadership team, was the special guest speaker on last night's policy call, Rate Review in PA and the Medical Loss Ratio.  (Scroll to the bottom for a list of upcoming calls).

Ward went through some of the new regulations on insurance companies put forth through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Many of these we're familiar with, such as the ban on life-time...

FMAP extension bill passes, but potential problems loom
Ted Zimmer 08/13/2010 - 3:39pm
Federal Legislation, FMAP, Medicaid, Pennsylvania state budget

As you hopefully heard, the House of Representatives passed important
pieces of legislation earlier this week that included $16 million worth
of funding for Pennsylvania to help pay for Medicaid (FMAP extension),
as well as a $10 billion bill that allows teachers to stay in the
classroom.

Patriot-News Joins Call for Preserving adultBasic
Chris Lilienthal 08/10/2010 - 3:19pm
adultBasic, Health Insurance

As I noted last week, some of the state's largest newspapers have joined the call for preserving adultBasic, after the recent release of a report from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and Pennsylvania Health Access Network examining a funding crisis facing the program.

Campaign to Prevent 45,000 Pennsylvanians from Losing Health Insurance Gains Support
Chris Lilienthal 08/05/2010 - 2:33pm
adultBasic, Health Insurance

Strong calls for preserving adultBasic have followed last week's release of a report from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and Pennsylvania Health Access Network examining a funding crisis facing the program. At the heart of the crisis is the December expiration of an agreement with the state's four Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans to help fund adultBasic.

This week, three of the state's largest...

PHAN Applauds the Start of High Risk Pool in PA and Works with Consumers to Help Them Enroll
pahealth 08/04/2010 - 3:48pm

Pennsylvania’s Health Plan for Uninsured Adults with Pre-Existing Conditions Starts Accepting Applications Today!!

Over 250 Individuals packed the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia for Town Hall on New Health Care Law
pahealth 08/04/2010 - 11:15am

AdultBasic Sings the Blues
Chris Lilienthal 08/02/2010 - 2:15pm
adultBasic, Community Health Reinvestment, Health Insurance, uninsured adults

Last week, PHAN organized five events across the Commonwealth to call on state lawmakers to preserve the adultBasic health insurance program.

Before our statewide Day of Action, few people were aware that the program, which provides affordable, no frills health coverage to adults earning up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, was in jeopardy.

It's Finally Here!! PA's Health Insurance Plan for Adult's with Pre-Existing Conditions!!
pahealth 08/02/2010 - 1:20pm

I received this email from the PA Insurance Department today. The department will start excepting applications for the Pre-Existing Insurance Plans this week!! You can go here to apply.www.PAFairCare.com

We are pleased to announce a new program offered by the Insurance Department called PA Fair Care – Pennsylvania’s health plan for uninsured adults with pre-existing conditions.

 

PHAN Issues Press Release on Blue's Six Month Extension on adultBasic Funding
pahealth 07/29/2010 - 2:05pm

For Immediate Release

 Contact: Chris Lilienthal, Communications Director | 717-255-7156 | 717-829-4823 (cell) | lilienthal@pennbpc.org 

Blues’ Six-Month Extension on adultBasic Funding a Delay Tactic, Not a Solution 

HARRISBURG, PA (July 29, 2010) - Pennsylvania’s adultBasic health insurance program remains in jeopardy, despite promises from the state’s four Blue Cross/Blue Shield...

PHAN Holds Five Events Across the State to Preserve adultBasic
pahealth 07/28/2010 - 6:58pm

This morning I received an email in my inbox from a recipient of adultBasic that would later share her story at one of the five events that happened across the state to preserve adultBasic.

It read: