Published: March 04, 2008 11:21 pm            

Health secretary lobbies for Rendell insurance proposal

Offering low-cost health insurance to the state’s working poor would cost the state almost $500 million next year, but that’s still a bargain, state Department of Health Secretary Dr. Calvin Johnson said.

“The cost of doing nothing is much greater than the cost of implementing health-care reform in Pennsylvania,” Johnson said Tuesday during a stop at Memorial Medical Center.

Johnson is on a four-day tour of the state to rekindle Gov. Ed Rendell’s Prescription for Pennsylvania reform initiative and its Cover All Pennsylvanians health insurance.

Legislation and the governor’s directives have implemented programs to expand access to health care, track hospital-acquired infection data and encourage a team approach to treatment of chronic illnesses.

But the health insurance component stalled in the Legislature, Johnson said.

Rendell’s proposal would underwrite policies offered by private insurance companies through employers with fewer than 50 workers. The employer would pay $130 a month for each worker, who would each chip in another $10 to $70 depending on their income, Johnson said.

“It is not a government-run health-care insurance program,” Johnson said. “It is an affordable product that can be administered through the existing structure.”

The plan would require $104.1 million to be raised with a 10-cent-a-pack hike in the cigarette tax, and with a new tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.

Additional government funding would include $49.5 million from the state’s share of a lawsuit settlement with the tobacco industry, $121.9 million from the Community Health Reinvestment fund from the insurance providers, and $191.2 million in federal Medicaid funds.

Conemaugh Health System supports expanded insurance coverage, said Dr. David Carlson, chief medical officer. But the plan must also provide hospitals with adequate reimbursement to be able to attract qualified physicians and pay for things like medical education, he added.

        

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