With only a few days left on the session calendar, the legislature needs to get serious about passing legislation that would provide health care for the nearly one million uninsured Pennsylvanians.  We cannot wait any longer and neither can our uninsured.  What is Pennsylvania waiting for?

My colleague, Sen. Jay Costa and I have called on the Senate Republican Leader to allow a full Senate vote on this crucial legislation.  We have also asked Governor Rendell to bring the Democrats and Republicans of the House and Senate together to discuss this issue in an effort to move it to the Senate floor for a full vote.

The Department of Health estimates that over the next five years Senate Bill 1137, the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care (PA ABC) plan, would extend subsidized health-care coverage to about 270,000 individual Pennsylvanians including the 80,000 already on the adultBasic waiting list.   It would also add coverage for behavioral health services and prescription drugs.

The plan builds upon Governor Rendell's Cover All Pennsylvanians proposal to offer uninsured individuals in PA access to affordable health care and make it more affordable for small businesses to provide health insurance for their employees.

The bill is ready to go and the governor is ready to sign. It passed the House of Representatives by a 118-81 vote in March and is now in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. All it needs is passage in the Senate. 

This is common-sense legislation that will not increase taxes; the money is already there. This is a win/win for Pennsylvania.
According to a study by the Insurance Department, the majority of uninsured adults in Pennsylvania are employed and most of the uninsured workers hold full-time jobs.

In Philadelphia County, there are 138,950 uninsured adults, which is 17.3 percent of the population. Each year, government, businesses, and consumers pay an estimated $1.4 billion to help cover the costs of treating Pennsylvanians who are uninsured and underinsured.

The idea that Pennsylvania can give $1 billion to doctors in Mcare payment relief but won't take steps to ensure that every Pennsylvanian has access to those doctors is inherently wrong.  We need to take action and give our most vulnerable citizens the health coverage they need and they deserve.

The economic situation in America has become more and more dire. This week, the federal government proposed a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street.  Detractors say the bailout will trickle down into the homes and wallets of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens: the uninsured.  While something needs to be done to stabilize the credit markets in Washington, we cannot forget about health-care access here in Pennsylvania.  As citizens work to stabilize their finances in these uncertain times, health care should be their last worry.

This legislation must be a priority in the dwindling days of the legislative session.  The uninsured citizens of Pennsylvania have waited long enough. With session ending on October 8,  the time for passage is NOW!

Please contact your Senator, share your concerns and ask them to act now.  Thank you.