PA House readies adultBasic bill for passage

Pennsylvania's "people's house" is getting ready to again send to the Senate legislation to help more of our state's one million uninsured, working-age adults buy affordable health insurance through adultBasic.

Houe members debated House Bill 1 for nearly five hours on June 12th, accepting a handful amendments while defeating at least a dozen more.  The votes on the defeated amendments were close and along party lines.

On Monday June 15, the bill was scheduled for a vote on final passage but was pulled from the calendar when several members of the Democratic caucus were unable to attend due to illness.  Late Tuesday, it appeared an agreement had been reached between Democratic and Republican leaders to accept several Republican amendments, thus winning significant Republican support.  But by Wednesday, that deal fell apart, leaving supporters of the bill waiting for final passage.

The bill will be back on the House calendar later this month, perhaps as early as the week of June 22nd.

House Bill 1, authored by Majority Leader Todd Eachus (D-Luzerne County), would expand enrollment from 45,000 to 130,000 individuals and add prescription drug and behavioral health coverage.  Funding would be authorized from a combination of state and federal sources and would be adequate for four years at the 130,000 enrollee level. 

The impact of the expansion on the state budget would be modest - around $44 million annually over the 4-year period.  Most of the funding for the expansion would come from federal Medicaid dollars.

Affordabilty is a major issue in the House debate, with proponents of HB 1 making the point that expanding enrollment in adultBasic actually saves money for the state.  Enrollees who receive medical attention on a timely basis remain in better health; those who delay care often become seriously ill and require very expensive treatment, often at public expense. 

Funding sources are also controversial aspects of HB 1.  The plan calls for about half of the existing surplus in the Health Care Providers Retention Account, a fund that hospitals have claimed can be used only for medical providers and not the uninsured. 

Also, the plan would require the Blues insurance companies to continue contributing to the cost of adultBasic throughout the four-year plan and would impose a tax on their premium revenue if they stopped making voluntary payments when the current funding agreement expires in December 2010.  The tax provision is opposed by the Blues insurers.

With so much time and attention focused on HB 1 in the Pennsylvania House, now is a good time to contact House members in support of the bill.