June 16th, 2008

State lawmakers have faced rising pressure this summer to assist Pennsylvania’s uninsured.  With half of the 50-member Senate and all 203 members of the House up for re-election in November, election year politics have made health-care a top priority.

An article appearing in The Morning Call on June 16 highlighted the efforts of all four legislative caucuses and the Governor’s administration to reduce the number of Pennsylvanians without health insurance.

Governor Rendell, along with legislative Democrats, plan to cover 270,000 of Pennsylvania’s estimated 800,000 uninsured through a state-subsidized insurance program.  The program would cost nearly $1.4 billion over five years.

Republicans have a different idea and are pushing tax credits to drive down the cost of health care and expand access.  They fear the high cost of the Democrat’s plan and oppose tax increases that would fund the program.

Rendell may be feeling the most pressure to make progress on health care reform during his second year of his final term.  The governor has spent his last few weeks traveling back and forth across the state calling on lawmakers to pass his reform plan. 

“It’s on him in a lot of ways,” said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.  “It’s a key plank in his legislative agenda.  And he’s really made it a priority.”