Let’s gap in health care for Pennsylvanians

Fifix

More than two months have passed since the deadline to enroll in affordable health insurance plans via the Health Insurance Marketplace. For much longer than that, hundreds of thousands of working Pennsylvanians have been living without health insurance.

They could have had access to it since the beginning of the year had Gov. Tom Corbett agreed to accept the millions of dollars made available to the state through the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid coverage.

Estimates have ranged that up to 500,000 Pennsylvanians who have fallen into a “coverage gap” because they do not earn enough to purchase a plan via the Health Insurance Marketplace, but they earn too much to qualify for Medical Assistance. The Medicaid expansion funds would have provided, via the federal government, 100 percent of the costs of providing newly eligible Pennsylvanians health care coverage through the end of 2016. It is the fail-safe element built into the Affordable Care Act so working people do not fall through the coverage cracks.

But because Corbett opposes anything that has to do with President Obama’s health care reform legislation, the governor has refused the Medicaid expansion funds.

Corbett insists he has a better plan, dubbed “Healthy PA,” and has applied for a waiver to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If and when it is approved, it would not be implemented until next year.

Now, in a little more than two weeks, state legislators must address a projected $1.3 billion shortfall in the Pennsylvania budget. Since Corbett refuses to cultivate a major potential resource, higher taxes to residents and further cuts to their education and human services may result.

There is a possible interim solution to the health care coverage gap while Corbett’s health plan remains up in the air that could also help alleviate Pennsylvania’s foreboding defificit.

Studies by the RAND Corporation and the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Offifice show that implementing Medicaid expansion as a temporary bridge to Healthy PA could provide $600 million in savings and new revenue for Pennsylvania’s 2014-2015 budget, according to Sharon Ward of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.

She said a temporary “bridge” expansion could be done through specifific language by the General Assembly as part of the normal budget process without disrupting Healthy PA negotiations. A similar provision has already been enacted in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire voted to expand Medicaid coverage and draw 100 percent federal funding while they await approval of their waiver request. Their measures included moving the newly eligible from Medicaid Managed Care coverage to the private option when the waiver request was approved. Legislators must reauthorize the Medicaid expansion program once New Hampshire begins picking up a share of the costs, in 2017.

This compromise was promoted for Pennsylvanians June 9 at a rally in Harrisburg at the state Capitol by the Cover the Commonwealth Campaign, which includes more than 130 organizations.

“We have an opportunity to help close the budget gap by closing the coverage gap,” said Ward.

It sounds like a win-win situation for Pennsylvanians without health care coverage and for all Pennsylvania taxpayers who should not have to continue to endure the millions of dollars in cuts to vital services they have suffered throughout the Corbett administration.

My name is Jared and I am a Boy Scout with Troop 610 in Lansdale. I am currently First Class and working towards my Star Scout Rank.

I picked up a newspaper from May 26, that was lying around the house and read an article titled “This Memorial Day: Become an activist for our veterans”. I was shocked to learn how our Veterans are being treated in this country.

These brave men and women are giving their lives to protect our freedom, and yet when they return home, they are not receiving the prompt medical care that they deserve. This is wrong! They leave their families, friends, schools and careers to volunteer for the armed services, only to return home and have to wait months and years for the benefifits they deserve. Some of these heroes are actually dying before they get the medical at- tention they need.

Our president should put a stop to this now. If our government has the resources to hand out to people who were not even born in this country, they should certainly have the resources to provide for our veterans. It is about time we appreciate the sacrififices that these soldiers make everyday to insure our safety. We need to take care of these brave Americans!