Bill to expand adultBasic health insurance introduced

PA House Majority Leader Todd Eachus has introduced a bill to expand adultBasic, Pennsylvania's subsidized health insurance plan, to 130,000 working-age adults.

Currently, only 44,000 people are insured by adultBasic, the program started by Governor Tom Ridge in 2001 to help the uninsured buy coverage at an affordable rate.  Approximately 235,000 people are on the waiting list, which has been growing rapidly.  The Eachus bill would enable 86,000 individuals to move from the waiting list into active coverage.

The bill, known as House Bill 1 to reflect the top priority Eachus is giving health care, has been referred to the House Insurance Committee where it will be taken up as early as June 1.

"More and more working families are finding themselves without health insurance and in need of access to basic health care," said Eachus in a May 21st press release.  "The crisis of the uninsured is reaching epidemic proportions.  It is my strong belief that expanding access to health insurance is the best way to address the crisis we are facing."

Along with the expansion, Eachus' proposal would update the program by adding prescription drug coverage, chronic disease management, behavioral health coverage, and prevention and wellness care.

That would qualify adultBasic for federal matching dollars.  Of the $306 million price tag for the Eachus plan in 2009-10, around $160 million would come from federal sources and $146 million from state funds. 

In the current year, the program is entirely state funded with an appropriation of $171 million.

The Eachus plan is similar to a plan proposed by Governor Rendell in that both would begin drawing down federal funds to help ease Pennsylvania's health insurance crisis. However, the Governor proposed spending only $117 in state funds out of a total cost of $252 million over the course of the coming year.

For Eachus, the wisdom of his proposal is found not only in the additional people who would gain access to health care through an expansion of adultBasic, but also in the benefit to the entire system when people begin receiving health care in a rationale, cost-effective manner. 

"If we reduce that waiting list and cover more people, we will be able to improve the quality of care across the Commonwealth and prevent costly, unnecessary emergency room visits, which will reduce the cost of care for all Pennsylvanians."

Funding for the Eachus plan would come from three sources:  the Tobacco Settlement Fund, the Health Care Provider Retention Account, and the Community Health Reinvestment Fund (contributions from Blue Cross/Blue Shield entitties).  AdultBasic does not receive General Fund dollars and is not directly impacted by the current debate in the legislature about balancing the General Fund budget. 

However, the $500 million surplus in the Heath Care Provider Retention Account figures in the plans of many legislators, and Eachus will have a tough fight trying to protect a portion of it for adultBasic. Key players in that fight will be the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PMS) and the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP).  Both groups wants the lion's share of that money to fund a plan to extinguish their future liabilities under the Pennsylvania medical malpractice subsidy program.

For a printable summary of HB 1, use the pull-down menu under "Health Care in PA" at the top of the page.