HARRISBURG — In response to the Corbett’s Administration’s capitol press conference that lauded the benefits of the Healthy PA plan including his Medicaid Expansion proposal, Neal Bisno, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the state’s largest healthcare union, issued the following statement:
“After months of inaction, the Corbett administration has finally taken the long overdue first procedural step toward using Medicaid expansion dollars to expand access to care in Pennsylvanian. While we welcome the progress, this proposal raises many concerns about cuts to healthcare for vulnerable people and the cost for low-income families. Given the governor’s record on healthcare, this proposal needs careful scrutiny.
“We are disappointed the state wasted valuable time to reach this point. Because of these delays, working families will fall in to the Pennsylvania Gap. They earned too much for Medicaid now but cannot receive help affording coverage on the exchange. That leaves 400,000 people to struggle for another year without access to a doctor that will be available in most states on January 1st, hospitals will have enormous costs from uncompensated care, the state will lose $500 million and the creation of 35,000 jobs is at risk.”
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest and fastest growing union of health care workers, representing 25,000 nurses, technicians, nursing assistants, and support staff in hospitals, nursing homes and public institutions across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is committed to improving the lives of health care workers and ensuring quality, affordable health care for all Pennsylvanians.