June 30th, 2009

Reports the Associated Press via the Philadelphia Inquirer:

A bill to open Pennsylvania’s government-subsidized health-insurance program to 85,000 more lower-income adults won House approval yesterday.

But the chances of this bill reaching Gov. Rendell’s desk appear bleak.

While passage had been a priority of House Democrats, who symbolically numbered it House Bill 1, only a single Republican representative crossed party lines in the 104-96 vote.

It was sent to the Republican-majority state Senate, where a GOP spokesman said there were no plans to take it up, and a key committee chairman issued a statement sharply critical of the bill.

House Democrats called the bill a critical step to help victims of the economic downturn.

…

The legislation would reduce the adultBasic program’s two-year-long waiting list of about 236,000 and add new coverage for prescription drugs, chronic disease management, preventive care, and behavioral health. The adultBasic program currently serves 46,000 adults up to age 65.

The expansion would be funded by taxing nonprofit health insurers, tapping a fund that helps doctors pay malpractice premiums, reducing the reporting time for abandoned property, and getting federal funding.

But Republicans criticized the funding mechanism and said there were more effective alternatives that could attract votes from both sides of the partisan divide. Rep. Dennis O’Brien of Philadelphia was the only Republican yes vote.

Read more at the Inquirer.