Dem. Senator Mike Stack introduces SB420 to save adult Basic

[Divernan]

Please call your state Senators to support this bill.

(This announcement is from the Senator's website, not a news article, so no copyright re # of paragraphs.)

Harrisburg, Feb. 9, 2011 — With 40,000 Pennsylvanians on the verge of losing their adultBasic health benefits, state Sen. Mike Stack today announced his legislation that would sustain Pennsylvania’s low-cost health plan.

Stack’s Northeast Philadelphia district has the second highest number of Pennsylvanians on adultBasic.

“I have 1,400 constituents who are asking themselves, ‘How will I afford health insurance?’” Stack said at Capitol press conference. “Time is running out. The legislature must act now. Forty thousand men and women are counting on us.”

Senate Bill 420 would allocate the General Assembly’s $188.5 million budget surplus to fund operating expenses for adultBasic for at least a year. Assuming that adultBasic expenses remain at the current $14 million a month, the surplus will sustain the program through April 2012.

“Most Pennsylvanians are tightening their belts and prioritizing their expenses in this economy,” Stack said. “It’s time that the legislature tighten our belts a little to help Pennsylvanians in desperate need of health care.”

Given the unsteady economy and the state’s multi-billion-dollar deficit, adultBasic in its current form is unsustainable, Stack said. But the health exchange option under the federal Affordable Care Act does not go into effect until January 2014.

Stack’s legislation would give the state another year to determine how to help the program survive until 2014.

In addition to new funding, program changes, including eligibility checks, will need to be made, Stack said.

Stack has reached out to Gov. Tom Corbett and the leaders of the four legislative caucuses to immediately discuss Senate Bill 420 and other options to sustain adultBasic through 2014.