On February 19th, the Corbett Administration submitted a waiver to the federal government requesting permission to move forward with “Healthy PA,” Pennsylvania’s alternative to Medicaid Expansion. The good news is our hard work to gain healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania has moved our Governor to this point. The bad news? Governor Corbett’s Healthy PA proposal contains dangerous, unnecessary cuts for current Medicaid beneficiaries while attempting to put up roadblocks for those who need care.
The Corbett Administration’s new budget calls for $125 million in funding reductions to PA’s Medicaid program as called for by Healthy PA.
After receiving hundreds of public comments, the Corbett Administration made slight improvements to the original draft plan but the final waiver still includes reductions to hospital visits, mental health treatment and punitive lock out periods for up to nine months for individuals who have difficulty proving compliance with work search requirements or lack the means to pay for additional cost sharing.
What’s worse, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) could reject the Healthy PA plan based on some of its more controversial provisions such as a work-search requirement and increased cost sharing. This could send us back to the drawing board, which could be too late for the hundreds of thousands who need coverage now.
In all, Healthy PA reduces access to preventative healthcare for some of our state’s most vulnerable residents. Reducing benefits and restricting access to preventative care is the wrong direction to ensuring quality healthcare in Pennsylvania. Traditional Medicaid Expansion continues to offer the best solution to protecting and expanding Pennsylvania’s vital safety net for more than 1.2 million uninsured citizens.
Medicaid Expansion would allow hundreds of thousands of workers to gain access to quality, affordable health insurance while saving taxpayers $522 million in 2014 and keeping us on track to create 35,000 family-sustaining jobs. By not expanding Medicaid, Pennsylvania’s hard-earned tax dollars will pay for healthcare services in other states, including every state bordering ours.
As we wait for the federal government to weigh in, we need to continue urging the Corbett Administration to accept traditional Medicaid Expansion so that hundreds of thousands of uninsured Pennsylvanians and current Medicaid beneficiaries can see the promise of a healthier future.