“Physicians, Needy Deserve Better” - an editorial from the Allentown Morning Call

An April 3rd editorial calls on the Pennsylvania Senate to pass SB 1137, a bill that extends malpractice relief for physicians while also creating a low-cost health insurance alternative for small employers and the uninsured. Here is an excerpt.

"The Medical Society expressed regret . . . that Pennsylvania's physicians are being caught in the middle of a political standoff. We think that's a bad thing, too. The MCare subsidies benefited physicians, it is true, but they also benefited Pennsylvanians who need health care by keeping more physician practices open.

"Our greater concern is for the 220,000 people who can't afford insurance and who would have been covered by Gov. Rendell's plan. Mr. Rendell showed a willingness to compromise in January when he scaled back his health-care plan and removed a major stumbling block, a proposed payroll tax. He changed the funding stream for ABC by increasing the cigarette tax, adding a new tax on chewing tobacco and tapping the MCare fund. Mr. Rendell made the point at the time, 'How is it okay to raise the cigarette tax for the doctors but we won't raise it to get the working poor health care?'

"Good question. Gov. Rendell has been willing in the past to use brinksmanship with the Legislature, and bigger challenges on passing the 2007-2008 budget are looming. He probably could extend the MCare fund by executive order, but why should he? He offered the Legislature a viable program to serve both the needs of physicians by extending the fund and the needs of Pennsylvanians who can't afford insurance. The Senate should pass it."