House Passes Health Reform Bills

June 29, 2009

Two important bills - one to expand subsidized health insurance, the other to protect small businesses against premium spikes - cleared the Pennsylvania House June 29. Both face an uphill struggle in the Senate, which has shown little interest to date in expanding insurance coverage or regulating insurance companies.

House Bill 1, sponsored by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus (D-Luzerne County), would expand the number of adults receiving adultBasic to 130,000 by June of 2010. Currently, 45,461 adults receive insurance through adultBasic, while another 272,242 are on a waiting list, according to the state Insurance Department.

House Bill 1 would update adultBasic by adding prescription drug and behavioral health coverage. This would make the program more cost-effective in managing illness and disease. It also would ensure that the program qualifies for federal funding.

The House also passed House Bill 746, which would end the practice by which insurance companies price coverage for an employee group based on the risks in that group. Instead, risks would be shared among all small business groups within a geographical area, thereby reducing the impact of claims on any one employee group.  Rates could not increase more than 10% a year, medical underwriting would be prohibited, and employee wellness plans rewarded with lower rates, according to the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Tony DeLuca.

Click here to access a fact sheet on House Bill 1, and click here to access a fact sheet on House Bill 746. Click here to access fact sheets on other health care reform measures now before the state Legislature.

Berry Friesen, public affairs manager for the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, has an op-ed in the June 10th Patriot-News of Harrisburg urging Pennsylvania physicians to support House Bill 1. Click here to read it.