Time for physicians to speak up for uninsured

On Wednesday, June 10th, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will debate House Bill 1, the plan sponsored by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus to expand the number of working-age Pennsylvanians who could purchase affordable, private health insurance through adultBasic.

In its June 10th edition, the Harrisburg Patriot-News published the following op-ed, authored by Berry Friesen, PHAN's public affairs manager, urging physicians to support the Eachus plan.

"Again this June, Pennsylvania's nearly 1 million uninsured working-age adults are looking to the General Assembly for help. And again this June, their hopes for gaining access to health care hang on whether physicians come to their aid in the halls of the Capitol in Harrisburg.

"At issue is a portion of a special fund -- the Health Care Provider Retention Account -- that has accumulated a surplus from the cigarette tax. House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, wants to commit a portion of that surplus to the uninsured over the next four years. That money, together with other existing state revenues and federal matching funds, would support an expansion of adultBasic health insurance. Currently 235,000 eligible people are on the waiting list for that insurance while only 44,000 are enrolled.

"Eachus wants to triple enrollment, bringing it up to 130,000. Most of the cost would be borne by the federal government; the cost to the commonwealth over four years would be only 25 percent more than the current cost. By 2013, Eachus expects the federal expansion of insurance coverage to be implemented.

"But the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) wants the money in the Health Care Provider Retention Account to be used exclusively to pay off the remaining liabilities hospitals and doctors carry under Mcare, the state-funded malpractice insurance pool. It has sued Gov. Ed Rendell in this regard, seeking a court order that would put the entire surplus off limits to the uninsured or any other public priority the Legislature might be inclined to support.
When this same matter was debated last June, the doctors' representative in Harrisburg -- the Pennsylvania Medical Society -- usually spoke about the uninsured, but stood foursquare with HAP in reaching for all the money.

"This past February, the medical society seemed to moderate its position. Its president, Dr. Daniel J. Glunk, praised Rendell for elevating "the need to provide aid to the uninsured." He voiced no criticism of the fact that the governor's plan committed only a part of the surplus to the Mcare payoff and left most of the money for other purposes.

"The uninsured took heart from Glunk's February statement. The medical society is influential in the General Assembly. When it complains about medical malpractice premiums and says physicians may leave the state, legislators pay close attention. If physicians were to throw their weight behind proposals to improve health access for the uninsured, that would be a huge boost to the cause.

"Thanks to the actions taken by legislators earlier this decade, physicians already have received ample help from the commonwealth.

"State subsidies to help cover medical malpractice premiums now total nearly $1 billion. And because of tort reform and the state's assumption of a portion of the risk of malpractice claims, the rates physicians are paying for private malpractice coverage are dropping. This benefits all physicians, including those just starting to practice, and leaves them in a position to shoulder a fair share of remaining Mcare liabilities.

"Now, as our legislators assemble a budget, it's time for the doctors to step up. We have the chance to expand health insurance coverage with federal funds and surplus state funds that are currently uncommitted. By covering more of the uninsured, we will help them stay healthy. Health providers would be helped, too, because in the end, that's where health insurance dollars are spent. And the commonwealth would benefit by having lower uncompensated care costs.

"Doctors have said they want to see more people with health insurance and the Eachus plan will do that. Doctors, along with the uninsured, let's get this done."