Latest numbers show increasing need for adultBasic; program’s funding remains in jeopardy

AdultBasic is one of the few remaining options for people who can’t get insurance on the job, or who have been priced out of the private insurance market by skyrocketing premiums. The latest figures from the PA Insurance Department demonstrate the growing need for adultBasic. As of October 2010, there were 43,373 folks on adultBasic, with another 448,515 on the waiting list—a waiting list that has exploded in the wake of the recession, growing by 368.9% since the recession began in December 2007.

These stark numbers are compounded by the findings of a report by the Economic Policy Institute released today showing that Pennsylvania is second only to economically-ravaged Michigan in the number of workers losing employer-provided health care from 2008 to 2009. The report found that in Pennsylvania, the number of workers and their dependents with employment-based health coverage fell from 7,929,984 in 2000-01 to 7,053,500 in 2008-09 – a decline of 876,484. The rate of employer coverage in the commonwealth dropped from 75.9% in 2000-01 to 67.6% in 2007-08 – outstripping the national average decline during that period.

Further analysis of the data shows that lower-income workers have been hit hardest by this drop in the number of employers offering their employees health coverage: the coverage rate for the bottom 20% of income earners dropped by about 11 percentage points, while for the top 20%, it declined by 3.1 percentage points.

More Pennsylvanians are out of work, working part-time or working in jobs that do not offer health insurance. Insurance rates and health care costs continue to rise, and the relief brought by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as the new federal health reform law) won’t be felt for another few years, when all the provisions—including a new insurance exchange where individuals, families and small businesses can purchase quality insurance at an affordable rate—will be in full effect.

So what do we do? The first step has to be to preserve adultBasic. It continues to be a lifeline for thousands of working people across the state, offering bare bones coverage at an affordable rate for those 43,373 folks on the program. (Those folks on the waiting list can purchase the adultBasic plan at full cost, but in March of this year, the unsubsidized cost shot from $330/month to $600/month, which rose again in June to $629/month. Before those price hikes, 3,500 people elected to purchase unsubsidized healthcare coverage, but as of June, only 1,052 people could afford the full price option.)

In a press release earlier today, PHAN urged Governor-elect Tom Corbett and the new Legislature to preserve adultBasic. The majority of the funding for adultBasic has come from the state’s Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurers, who agreed in 2005 to contribute a portion of their surpluses toward adultBasic in return for the substantial tax breaks they receive as tax-exempt, “charitable” organizations. That agreement expires in December, and while the Blues have agreed to a 6-month extension, that does nothing to resolve the long gap between June 2011 and January 2014, when the new insurance exchange will be fully operational in Pennsylvania and give folks a chance to obtain affordable coverage. Urgent action is needed to ensure adultBasic is funded until 2014 so that more than 43,000 Pennsylvanians aren’t hung out to dry and left with no options for getting affordable health insurance.

Keep in mind that despite the Blues’ contributions to adultBasic over the past five years, their profits and sizable surpluses have continued to grow. From 2003 to 2009, the four companies’ cumulative surpluses went from $3 billion to $5.6 billion—an increase of 61.4%. These surpluses have grown two-and-a-half times faster than Pennsylvania wages since 2002, despite the worst economic climate in decades. If they could afford it then and it hasn't hurt them financially, it seems reasonable to expect that they can afford it now.

It is absolutely critical that we preserve adultBasic as a bridge to health reform or tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians will lose their health coverage. We are asking our lawmakers to stand with the individuals who rely on adultBasic and for the Blues to maintain their funding commitment (and their charitable mission) by continuing their contributions to adultBasic until 2014.

We need your help—here’s what you can do:

• Sign PHAN’s online petition
• Help us find adultBasic consumers and folks on the waiting list to share their stories
• Share your story, if you’re on adultBasic or the waiting list
• Call, write and meet with your state representative and senator
• Write a Letter to the Editor
• Help get the word out in the media via talk radio and social networks (join the Save adultBasic group on Facebook and follow PHAN on Facebook and Twitter).

Let’s work together and make sure 43,000 Pennsylvanians aren’t shut out from getting the care they need!

adultBasic Sings the Blues (PA Budget and Policy Center Report).pdf