PoliticalAction.com Blog

Dear Friend,

Budgets are statements of priorities, and it is clear from this week’s state budget proposal that Governor Corbett’s priorities are simply not aligned with middle-class Pennsylvania families.

Each year in Pennsylvania, uninsured patients receive nearly $1 billion in uncompensated medical care. Without coverage, their care is delayed, their conditions become more severe, and they turn to emergency rooms, where care is more expensive and the cost is ultimately borne by the taxpayers.
Under the Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania has the opportunity to reduce its uninsured population by 41% with the federal government absorbing the greatest share of costs by contributing $37.8 billion over the next decade (Source: The Kaiser Family Foundation). This would have dramatically expanded access to coverage for these hard-working citizens. Health care reform took great steps to control health care costs while expanding access and strengthening benefits for all Americans.

Walking away from reducing Pennsylvania’s uninsured population by 41% is short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible.

Although the Governor failed to create certainty for a half-million of our fellow Pennsylvanians, just this week the number of states that have adopted this Medicaid expansion opportunity climbed to 20, including our neighbors in New York, Delaware, Maryland and Ohio.

This was a missed opportunity.

Sincerely,

Allyson Y. Schwartz
Member of Congress

Be sure to send me an email and let me know what your thoughts are on expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania?

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz with State Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, Vincent Hughes, healthcare providers, policy experts and others to calling on Governor Corbett to join other Republican and Democratic governors around the nation and support Medicaid expansion (January 24, 2013)

Anticipation is building, and this month we start an important countdown, first to October 1, 2013, when open enrollment begins, and continuing on to January 1, 2014, the start of new health insurance coverage for millions of Americans. In October, many of you’ll be able to shop for health insurance that meets your needs at the new Marketplace at HealthCare.gov.

This is an historic time for those Americans who never had health insurance, who had to go without insurance after losing a job or becoming sick, or who had been turned down because of a pre-existing condition. Because of these new marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans will have new access to affordable health insurance coverage.

Over the last two years we’ve worked closely with states to begin building their health insurance marketplaces, also known as Exchanges, so that families and small-business owners will be able to get accurate information to make apples-to-apples comparisons of private insurance plans and, get financial help to make coverage more affordable if they’re eligible.

That is why we are so excited about launching the newly rebuilt HealthCare.gov website, where you’ll be able to buy insurance from qualified private health plans and check if you are eligible for financial assistance — all in one place, with a single application. Many individuals and families will be eligible for a new kind of tax credit to help lower their premium costs. If your state is running its own Marketplace, HealthCare.gov will make sure you get to the right place.

The Marketplace will offer much more than any health insurance website you’ve used before. Insurers will compete for your business on a level playing field, with no hidden costs or misleading fine print.

It’s not too soon to check out HealthCare.gov for new information about the Marketplace and tips for things you can do now to prepare for enrollment.  And, make sure to sign up for emails or text message updates, so you don’t miss a thing when it’s time to enroll.

There is still work to be done to make sure the insurance market works for families and small businesses. But, for millions of Americans, the time for having the affordable, quality health care coverage, security, and peace of mind they need and deserve is finally within sight.