June 16th, 2008

At the end of the summer session, legislators will be returning to their district and most to campaigning and a November election. (All 203 house members and half of the 50 senators are up for re-election this year).  With the cost of healthcare at the top of Pennsylvanians concerns, it is unlikely that most of these members want to return to their constituents without making at least some progress on healthcare reform.

With that said, it still doesn’t look like either side wants to budge.  The PA ABC plan, backed by House D’s, would spend $1.4  billion over 5 years to extend state subsidized health insurance to 270, 000 uninusured Pennsylvanians.  Republicans say the funding for this plan, a combination of tobacco settlement money and the MCARE surplus, is unreliable. They are also opposed to tax increases on tobacco products that would foot the rest of the bill.

This past week, Senate R’s introduced their own plan, HealthNET PA, which they say would lower the cost of healthcare, improve access, and help the unisured.  The backbone of the plan is providing tax incentives to businesses to give contributions to create or help fund existing free clinics for the state’s poor.  It also extends the amount of time young adults are allowed on their parents insurance, and gives tax credits to people who use health savings accounts.  The administration doesn’t think this plan is well-funded or well-defined. 

The Morning Call reports that not only legislators facing voters, but also Gov. Rendell have a lot to gain or lose on this issue:

“For Rendell, who’s in the second year of his final term, success on health care reform could also mean the difference between a burnished legacy and a dented one.

The Democratic governor has staked epic amounts of political capital to the issue. He has crisscrossed the state in recent weeks and used his bully pulpit to call on lawmakers to pass his reform plan.

The next few months could be crucial. After this fall, Rendell will enter the lame-duck phase of his administration. That means the political clout he can exercise to get lawmakers to pass his programs will steadily diminish.”

However, it seems some, like Sen. Jake Corman (R- Centre) are not optimistic that compromises between the caucuses and the Gov. will be reached this summer. ”We won’t have a global agreement like we’ll have on energy [conservation],” Sen. Corman predicted, referring to another key budget-season issue where lawmakers and the administration are not as far apart.