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March 13, 2009
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- Press Conference

Vance Visits Sadler Health Center to Highlight Plan to Boost Community Health Care 

Harrisburg – Sen. Pat Vance (R-Cumberland/York) visited Sadler Health Center in Carlisle today as part of the Senate Republicans' effort to improve health care access and expand Pennsylvania's health care safety net through the HealthNET PA legislative package.

The HealthNET PA plan would broaden access to health care and medicine to more than 500,000 uninsured and low-income working Pennsylvanians through a variety of measures. It includes developing or expanding health care clinics across Pennsylvania to provide "medical homes" for 175,000 working-poor clients and ease pressure on hospital emergency rooms. In addition, the plan would utilize information technology to control costs and reduce health care-associated infections, provide expanded insurance options for employers and families, and incorporate the concepts of disease prevention and wellness.

"As a nurse I understand the importance of having access to health care," Vance said. "It is a lot less costly to provide preventive care, which includes monitoring of chronic health conditions, than to seek care only in an emergency. Since the early 1980s, the Sadler Health Center in its various forms has been addressing the need for preventive care regardless of the patient's ability to pay. HealthNET PA would expand clinics like this throughout the Commonwealth."

"All residents of Pennsylvania should be able to access health care regardless of their coverage status," said Elaine Herstek, executive director of Sadler Health Center. "Patients who choose to use Pennsylvania's Community Health Center Network for primary medical and dental care who are uninsured, underinsured or covered by government-sponsored medical plans like Medicaid and Medicare, can find care at these established organizations and will find consistencies in three areas: First, being welcomed regardless of their ability to pay; second, being treated by dedicated well trained professionals in a respectful manner; and third being well cared for and cared about. Sadler Health Center Corporation is proud to be a part of this extraordinary network."

Features of the 15-bill HealthNET PA package include:

• Improving Access to Health Care and Medicines
  • Establishing the Community-Based Healthcare Program for the expansion and site development of health care clinics across Pennsylvania to provide "medical homes" for 175,000 working poor clients and ease pressure on hospital emergency rooms.
  • Implementing a physician/health care facility volunteer program through which an additional 159,000 uninsured patients would be assigned to a primary or specialty care physician, with access to free specialty care, labs and inpatient hospital care.
  • Creating a registry of free prescription drugs and allowing retail establishment pharmacies to sell prescription drugs at a minimal cost, such as $4.
     
• Making Health Care More Affordable
  • Helping hospitals and doctors' offices convert to Electronic Medical Records, boosting evidence-based diagnosis and treatment protocols, and encouraging Telemedicine expansion.
  • Permitting health insurers to withhold payment to providers in the event of a medical error, and allowing employers to establish "Healthy Living Committees" qualifying for insurance discounts.
  • Providing funding of a critical cost-saver – the reduction of health care-associated infections.
     
• Expanding Coverage
  • Providing "Mini-Cobra" coverage for small business employers, creating a high-risk pool for individuals who cannot access other coverage, and extending the option of dependent coverage to age 30. (Nearly half of uninsured Pennsylvanians are age 18-34.)
  • Providing $5 million in state tax credits for the use of Health Savings Accounts.
  • Permitting a group of ten or more employers who belong to a nonprofit business coalition to pool their health-related insurance liabilities in order to self-insure. 

HealthNET PA would provide health care directly to the people who are in the greatest need, using existing sources of funds.

Approximately $225 million is annually deposited into the Health Care Provider Retention Account from the current cigarette tax and the CAT Fund surcharge. An estimated $125 million a year is needed to fully fund the current MCARE abatement, which makes the remaining $100 million available for HealthNET PA.

For more information, including statistics, charts and useful links, please visit the HealthNET PA homepage at www.pasenategop.com/healthnet.htm.

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