• Gov. Wolf vows to preserve access to health care in Pa.,

Governor blasts U.S. House vote

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday sharply criticized the U.S. House health care vote and said he would fight to preserve access to care and protections for consumers.

“This is a sad day for millions of Pennsylvania families who now continue to worry about their access to health care,” Mr. Wolf said in a statement after the House vote. “While some in Washington are celebrating today as a victory, this shallow and shameful attempt to score political points at the expense of the sick, poor, elderly and disabled will not soon be forgotten.”

Earlier Thursday, at an event near Harrisburg, the governor said he would do what he could to maintain the protections of former President Barack Obama’s health care law in the state.

“We are prepared to take whatever we have to do, and do what we can, to protect, again, the lives of Pennsylvanians,” Mr. Wolf said.

If the Pennsylvania General Assembly were to send him legislation gutting protections in the Affordable Care Act, such as those for pre-existing conditions, Mr. Wolf said he would veto it.

The governor, a Democrat, noted that hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians have gotten insurance coverage through Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

“However they end up addressing the health care issue, we have 700,000 Pennsylvanians who have health insurance now who didn’t have it two years ago,” Mr. Wolf said. “We’ve got to protect those 700,000 Pennsylvanians, and that’s what I want our representatives to understand.”

In a letter to the state’s U.S. House delegation, Mr. Wolf said Congress must preserve a ban on insurers discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.

He also expressed concern that Congress would undo protections for maternity and newborn care, and that the price of health insurance for older Americans would significantly increase.