May 26th, 2009

Write Ken Braithwaite, regional executive of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council and senior vice president of the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania; and Laval Miller-Wilson, executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project; in an op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer:

The American health-care system needs to change. But with more than 8 percent of Pennsylvanians out of work, government cuts that would weaken the health-care safety net are not the changes we need.

Last year, the number of Pennsylvanians covered by Medical Assistance – the state’s version of Medicaid insurance for low-income residents – rose at three times the expected rate. In a little more than a year, the region has seen a 10 percent increase in Medical Assistance enrollment. Hospitals report more people turning to their emergency rooms for health care. And government-subsidized health centers are caring for more uninsured people.

But the budget plan recently passed by the state Senate – and, to a lesser degree, the one proposed by Gov. Rendell – would reduce health-care services for those who need them most.

The Senate’s budget would eliminate additional proposed subsidies for low-income families purchasing health coverage through the Pennsylvania Children’s Health Insurance Program. It would also put about 2,000 older Pennsylvanians in nursing homes, costing taxpayers twice what it would to keep them safe and comfortable at home with community-based services.

The Senate legislation would make large cuts to Medical Assistance, including funding for essential services such as obstetrics. Many of these reductions would fall on people with disabilities, denying them the services they need to lead independent lives.

By reducing support for screening and prevention, the proposal could also delay detection and treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.

Read the rest of the op-ed.