March 24th, 2009

Says a press release issued by Sen. Jake Corman (R-Juniata), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee:

The committee’s approval of Senate Bills 189, 442, and 443 sets the stage for a final vote on those measures by the full Senate.

Senate Bill 189, introduced by Senator Corman, would extend health insurance coverage, at the expense of policyholders, to adult dependent children up to the age of 30 who are not married, have no dependents, are residents of the Commonwealth or enrolled as a full-time student at an institution of higher education and are not provided insurance coverage or eligible for government benefits. Insurers would be able to determine increases in the premium to cover this additional benefit.

Senate Bill 442, introduced by Senator Don White (R-37), would extend the COBRA guidelines to group plans of businesses with 2-19 employees.

 Senate Bill 443, also introduced by Senator Don White, would permit health insurers to withhold payment to providers in the event of a medical error.

The 15-bill HealthNET PA package (including Senate Bills 189, 442 and 443) includes legislation that would develop or expand health care clinics across Pennsylvania to provide “medical homes” for 175,000 working-poor clients and ease pressure on hospital emergency rooms.