Volunteer Leaders Fight to Save adultBasic

AdultBasic, an affordable health insurance option for low-income Pennsylvanians is set to expire come December.  Knowing it is the only program in PA of its kind and that 40,000 people will lose their health insurance if it dies, PHAN volunteers stepped up to help save it yesterday.

If you work a low-wage job and bring home less than $1,800/month (about 21,600/yr) than you probably can't afford a premium of $500/month for health insurance that doesn't cover your pre-existing conditions.  And, unfortunately, since that income level puts you at 200% above the Federal Policy Level, you don't qualify for Medicaid.

Too many people in our state are stuck in these cracks.  Learn more about adultBasic from our website.

Legislation has been introduced, HB 2455, in our State House to secure the program at zero cost to the state budget.  Twenty PHAN volunteers and staff from across the state met yesterday in Harrisburg to witness the hearing on the bill, show support for adultBasic and educate our law makers on the proposal and program.

Sharon Ward of the Budget and Policy Center in Harrisburg, who sits on PHAN's Leadership Team, presented at the hearing.  She articulated the need for the program and why HB 2455 was a fair and reasonable proposal.  She also shared the stories of people like Marry.

Marry is a Certified Nurse Midwife from Brookville, PA that is struggling with osteoporosis, fibromyalgia and high-blood pressure and can't afford coverage because of these conditions.  Shortly after receiving adultBasic, she decided to give back and opened a free clinic on a sliding scale for women and teenage girls to receive pap smears and STD screening. 

PHAN volunteers met with 22 legislative offices after the hearing to bring them up to speed on adultBasic and to introduce them to people like Marry.  Most of these volunteers had never had a meeting like this before, but after a brief training over lunch they were leading these legislative visits. 

Sixty percent of people on adultBasic are working, another percentage are unemployed and yet another are people who were forced into early retirement, stuck waiting for Medicare.  They are all people stuck in the cracks, hard-working Pennsylvanians without the basic opportunity of health care.  PHAN is proud to be committed to their cause and is looking forward to future events throughout the state around this essential program.