- Press Conference

Senators Erickson, Browne Visit Allentown Health Clinic

Legislators discusses plan to boost community health care

Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Ted Erickson (R-26) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Pat Browne (R-16) visited Sacred Heart Hospital’s Sigal Center for Family Medicine in Allentown today as part of the effort to improve health care access and expand Pennsylvania's health care safety net through the HealthNET PA legislative package.

Senators Erickson and Browne were joined by Sigal Center officials for a news conference followed by a tour of the facility. The Senators discussed the 15-bill HealthNET PA package, which includes legislation that would develop or expand health care clinics, such as the Sigal Center, across Pennsylvania to provide "medical homes" for 175,000 working-poor clients and ease pressure on hospital emergency rooms.

"We're in difficult economic times, with predictions that they will get worse. Pennsylvania workers and families need a health care safety net. HealthNET is that safety net," said Senator Erickson "The number of Pennsylvanians who do not have health insurance has increased since 2004. This increases the urgency and places an additional burden to provide for the medical needs of people, especially when they find themselves in a position that they didn't create. Our HealthNET PA plan will provide health care directly to the people who are in the greatest need. It does this in an affordable way by using existing sources of funds."

Senator Browne’s bill in the HealthNET package, the Volunteer Continuing Medical Education Act, would allow physicians, dentists, dental hygienists, nurses, certified registered nurse practitioners, or physician assistants to apply volunteer time served in a community-based health care clinic towards the completion of mandatory continuing education hours required by their individual licensure boards.

"This is a win-win-win option for the state, for health care professionals, and for those who will use the services offered by those clinics," Senator Browne said. "Pennsylvania’s taxpayers will gain since this process would limit the cost burden of those clinics. Health care professionals can apply their skills in an environment where they may truly encounter situations, cases and circumstances that they might not normally see in the daily routines of their individual practices and hospitals. And, in turn, the benefit to patients is readily apparent as they will be treated by experienced professionals."

Other features of the 15-bill HealthNET PA package include the following:

Improving Access to Health Care and Medicines
- Establishing the Community-Based Healthcare Program for the expansion and site development of health care clinics across Pennsylvania to provide "medical homes" for 175,000 working poor clients and ease pressure on hospital emergency rooms.
- Implementing a physician/health care facility volunteer program through which an additional 159,000 uninsured patients would be assigned to a primary or specialty care physician, with access to free specialty care, labs and inpatient hospital care.
- Creating a registry of free prescription drugs and allowing retail establishment pharmacies to sell prescription drugs at a minimal cost, such as $4.
Making Health Care More Affordable
- Helping hospitals and doctors' offices convert to Electronic Medical Records, boosting evidence-based diagnosis and treatment protocols, and encouraging Telemedicine expansion.
- Permitting health insurers to withhold payment to providers in the event of a medical error, and allowing employers to establish "Healthy Living Committees" qualifying for insurance discounts.
- Providing funding of a critical cost-saver – the reduction of health care-associated infections.
Expanding Coverage
- Providing "Mini-Cobra" coverage for small business employers, creating a high-risk pool for individuals who cannot access other coverage, and extending the option of dependent coverage to age 30. (Nearly half of uninsured Pennsylvanians are ages 18-34.)
- Providing $5 million in state tax credits for the use of Health Savings Accounts.
- Permitting a group of ten or more employers who belong to a nonprofit business coalition to pool their health-related insurance liabilities in order to self-insure.

HealthNET PA would provide health care directly to the people who are in the greatest need, using existing sources of funds.

Approximately $225 million is annually deposited into the Health Care Provider Retention Account from the current cigarette tax and the CAT Fund surcharge. An estimated $125 million a year is needed to fully fund the current MCARE abatement, which makes the remaining $100 million available for HealthNET PA.

For more information, including statistics, charts and useful links, please visit the HealthNET PA homepage at www.pasenategop.com/healthnet.htm.

Contact:

Matt Moyer
(610) 366-2327