The following are Sen. Costa’s remarks at the Healthy PA hearing in Pittsburgh on Dec. 20:
Thank you very much for providing me the opportunity to discuss Gov. Corbett’s Healthy PA plan.
This is an important initiative and I am pleased to convey my thoughts about Healthy PA, and share ideas from myself and other Senate Democrats regarding health care.
As you well know, Senate Democrats have been at the forefront of trying to provide health care for each and every Pennsylvanian. Last year, we led the effort to include language in a bill that would provide for the expansion of Medicaid to cover individuals who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
We argued that by using the expansion of Medicaid, which is available under the federal Affordable Care Act, we can provide life-saving health care for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, create budget savings and draw in billions of new federal funds.
If Pennsylvania were to opt in to expanding Medicaid using the traditional model, it would book $400 million in total budget savings next fiscal year, create between 35,000-40,000 jobs and receive an economic boost from the billions of dollars that would flow into the state.
While we were successful in working with our Republican colleagues to pass this plan in the Senate, the state House of Representatives refused to adopt our plan. That was unfortunate and irresponsible.
Despite our efforts, and, while we were unable to get that plan to the governor due to House Republican intransigence, we are open to other alternatives. Although it is not our preferable route, we recognize that one of the possible ways to expand Medicaid has been outlined by the governor in his Healthy PA plan.
My comments today will be concerning the governor’s plan.
Senate Democrats are pleased the governor recognized that we should cover the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who need health care. In addition, we are glad that he has, in his way, opted-in to a main feature of the Affordable Care Act. Senate Democrats are also pleased that the governor has taken action and asked for federal approval of his plan.
While these are positive aspects of the governor’s approach, we are very concerned about the implementation timeline. Simply put, if the governor’s waiver is approved, coverage will not be available until January 1, 2015. That is unacceptable, counterproductive and costly.
In order to maximize budget savings and help the most people that we can in the limited time available, we need to get on-line with health care as quickly as possible. Pennsylvania needs a plan that is effective by July 1, 2014. We can have one in place if we expand Medicaid using the traditional model while the waiver approval is pending.
As I indicated, there are many aspects of the governor’s plan that move the process forward; however, the suggested work search requirement is one element of the plan that sets the process back. This requirement is unrealistic and unreasonable and it is my understanding that the approach has been rejected by federal officials.
We are also very concerned with the portion of the governor’s plan that requires a subscriber’s monthly fee. Our concern is that for many of those who would be covered by the governor’s premium support approach, the required co-pay or fee would make health insurance unaffordable. In addition, we believe the governor should follow the MCO approach. In our view, this provides the greatest cost savings and management features.
As I indicated, Senate Democrats think that we need to move expeditiously in implementing Medicaid expansion. While we think this is best achieved through traditional expansion, we understand that the governor has other thoughts and has pursued a different course.
We stand ready to work with the governor and others who share our interest in promoting health care. In fact, we have already joined with like-minded lawmakers and the governor to implement portions of Healthy PA – including the elimination of the children’s health insurance six-month waiting period (Act 74).
We also worked to pass “benevolent gesture” legislation (Act 79) that allows doctors to express empathy for unforeseen outcomes without the fear that the admission will lead to a lawsuit.
There is plenty of work to do and many ways to deliver health care to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians via the Affordable Care Act. Democrats and Republicans must agree that quality health care is a right and it our duty to provide access.
Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to discuss the governor’s Healthy PA plan.