Access to Affordable Health Care

By John Paul Jones

We have the ability to provide access to affordable health care for all right now in Pennsylvania

Since the mid-1990s, health care premiums have risen at about 3 times the rate of inflation. This is devastating for individuals and businesses. Employers have reacted to this by:

Diverting their profits from other business activities such as re-investment and expansion. Requiring employees to pay for more of the cost of medical insurance Terminating medical insurance altogether One positive sign is that Pennsylvania is a leader in providing health care for children. Children are more likely to have medical insurance in PA than in most other states, and efforts are continuing to lower the number of uninsured children through the Cover All Kids plan.

We can build on this success to provide access to affordable health care for all. I support the Governor's Prescription for PA to provide access to affordable health care coverage for nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians paid for through a combination of surpluses in the MCare fund and taxes on tobacco products. This plan is contained in SB1137.

There is also a bill, HB1841, to place all public education employees in Pennsylvania under a single health care trust similar to the one currently covering all state employees (the Philadelphia School District would have the option of joining). This proposal could save school districts, and hence taxpayers, over $500 million. This approach would only be implemented after careful study of the anticipated savings and the optimal structure of the plan. I support this proposal as a means to directly save taxpayers money and also as a means to eliminate the most contentious issue, health care costs, from local school district bargaining.

In addition, to ensure that health care remains accessible to all, we need to ensure that no genetic discrimination occurs in Pennsylvania where families are dropped from coverage because they have a familial risk for a chronic illness.

Our population is aging rapidly and the long term care system is being placed under increasing strain, especially in our region. We must consider legislative measures that will allow our community members to age in place and to create a system that will provide for quality care through a career matrix for home health providers and workers. I will also propose legislation that will ensure that any "aging in place" proposals take into account the financial needs of the elderly to maintain their properties.

In order to reduce the costs of insurance to employers, we need to ensure that our hospitals and other health care providers are monitored for quality improvement through report cards based on evidence.

Lastly, to encourage economic growth in our region and district, self-employed individuals and small businesses need to be provided with the means to leverage the State's purchasing power to purchase insurance for themselves, their families, and employees at a more affordable rate.