Author: Marc Stier

No comments

What Is the Fair Share Tax?

  By Fair Share Tax, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Taxation

The main reason that Pennsylvania’s tax system is so upside down — with the top 1% paying only 4.3% of their income in taxes while the middle 20% pays 10% — is that the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibits us from enacting a graduated personal income tax. Sales and property taxes tend to take a higher percentage of the income of taxpayers at the bottom and in the middle than at the top. But graduated income taxes in many states — including all of our neighbors — compensate by taxing those at the top at a higher rate. We can start to fix our broken tax system by adopting what we call a Fair Share Tax which has been introduced by Senators Costa, Hughes, and Haywood as SB555.  Here are the key elements of it: The Personal Income Tax which is currently set at 3.07% will be divided into two taxes. The… Continue reading

No comments

ACA Repeal Puts Pennsylvanians Who Work for Large Corporations At Risk

  By ACA, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, US

The disastrous implications of the GOP health care bill are becoming ever more apparent, especially for those who get their insurance from large national corporations. Under the bill, even if Pennsylvania does not opt-out of the federal essential benefits regulation, large multi-state employers could choose to deny Pennsylvanians coverage for pre-existing medical conditions or particular conditions, such as pregnancy. Or they could impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage. Over 62% of Pennsylvanians have employer-based coverage, one of the highest rates in the country. Millions of Pennsylvanians get their insurance from large, multi-state corporations that also operate in states that are likely to opt-out of the federal essential benefit rule. So all of these scenarios could happen: Someone from Pittsburgh who works for Wal-Mart gets pregnant and discovers that pregnancy is not covered by Wal-Mart’s health insurance. When she leaves, she is responsible for the entire bill. A pregnancy with… Continue reading

No comments

On the AHCA Vote

  By ACA, Health Care

HARRISBURG – Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement following today’s passage of the American Health Care Act by the U.S. House: “Today the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed legislation that will strip health insurance from 1.3 million Pennsylvanians, will lead to the pre-mature death of 3,250 Pennsylvanians for lack of health insurance, and will threaten the health insurance of five million Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions. If the the health care exchanges survive, premiums for older adults will skyrocket, making health insurance unaffordable for most Pennsylvanians between the age of 50 and 64. “This legislation was never about improving health care. It was about giving $500 billion in tax breaks to the very wealthy and to big insurance and drug companies. “We are grateful that all of Pennsylvania’s Democratic members of Congress and four of its  Republican members of Congress in Pennsylvania… Continue reading

No comments

They Can’t Buy Us Off

  By ACA, Health Care, PBPC Blog posts

We are hearing today that the Trump administration is “buying off” support from members of Congress for the bill to repeal the ACA by adding more money for one thing or another. The latest is a plan to add $8 billion to the $130 billion already set aside for the high-risk pools to provide coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. A new report from the Center for American Progress shows that — as we have been saying — this is far less money than needed to provide insurance to everyone with pre-existing conditions. At a minimum, 54,000 Pennsylvanians would be eligible for a high risk pool. Even if they pay $10,000 a year — which many could not afford — the state would need $1.4 billion a year to provide insurance for them. But the AHCA, even with the addition $8 billion over ten years, would only give Pennsylvania $498 million a year. PA… Continue reading

No comments

Trump is Wrong: the AHCA Will Make Health Insurance Unaffordable for Those with Pre-Existing Conditions

  By Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

President Tump discovered not too long ago that Health Care is hard. So it’s no wonder he doesn’t always get things right. He said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, “Pre-existing conditions are in the bill. And I mandate it. I said, ‘Has to be.’” Wrong. In the last day, two respected organizations, Consumers Union and AARP, confirmed what we said two weeks ago:  the AHCA will make it impossible for many people — if not most people — with pre-existing conditions to afford health insurance if their state opts out of the ACA rules that guarantee people with pre-existing are offered insurance at the same rates as those without them. A million people in Pennsylvania are threatened if, as seems likely, the Republican-dominated General Assembly were to vote to make Pennsylvania one of those states. The Republican plan calls for high risk pools to cover people with pre-existing conditions. But… Continue reading

No comments

hy Representative Thompson Should Vote No on the Health Care Bill

  By ACA, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

Rep. Glenn Thompson’s Background, Consequences for Constituents Are Reasons to Vote “No” on GOP Health Care Bill Given his personal history in human services, and the demographic makeup of the 5thCongressional district, Congressman Glenn Thompson has long been an advocate for older Pennsylvanians – not just seniors but those in the 55 to 65 age bracket as well. And that must make the upcoming vote on the Republican replacement of the ACA so difficult. As a loyal Republican, Thompson has reason to support it. But the bill is, in many ways, terrible for older Pennsylvanians, including many of his constituents in the 5th district. So the concerns of his district and his own history very much point in the other direction. The threat to seniors and near-seniors come from a number of directions. To begin with the threat to seniors: the per-capita cap  Medicaid expenditures will cost Pennsylvania $18 billion… Continue reading

No comments

The New Version of the GOP Health Care Bill Is Even Worse Than the Last One

  By ACA, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania, US

Marc Stier | 04/26/2017 Blog Having failed to enact a plan that would lead 24 million Americans and 1.1 million in PA to lose health insurance, the House Republicans have returned with a new amendment, proposed by Representative Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), which would lead to larger losses.   Though this new proposal is being touted as a compromise between moderate and far-right Republicans, in reality, it is a surrender to the demands of those on the right who have repeatedly rejected the notion that the risks of illness should be shared by all of us, young and old, healthy and sick. The new proposal would place the burden of health care on those who, because of their age or medical condition, find that burden most difficult to bear: It allows states to opt-out of the rule that prohibits insurance companies from charging people with pre-existing medical conditions more. It allows states… Continue reading

No comments

The (Wholly Inadequate) GOP Budget Proposal (HB 218)

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget

The House Republican Budget proposal for 2017-18 is deeply problematic in six respects. First, the proposal does not close the state’s budget deficit, but leaves a gap of close to $800 million. Most of the revenue ideas presented by the House Republican Caucus to fill that gap are similar to the one-time revenues and fund transfers that have failed to fix our structural deficit in the past. The Republicans do not seem to be considering any proposal to increase recurring revenues by fixing our upside-down tax system. Second, the House Republican budget widens, rather than closes, the state’s investment deficit, especially in education, environmental protection, human services, and community and economic development: Education: It proposes $50 million less for Pre-K education and Head Start than the Governor’s budget, as well as eliminates the $8.5 million safe school initiative. Environmental Protection: It proposes $9 million less than the Governor’s budget for… Continue reading

No comments

A Teachable Moment in the PLCB Debate

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, PLCB

Those of us who have been parents or teachers often talk about “teachable moments.” Teachable moments occur when something problematic happens from which we can learn some important lesson. The bills being considered today to privatize the operations of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) give us teachable moments — moments that might help people understand why we cannot simply privatize the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board without the state losing $300-400 million per year in General Fund Revenues. HB 991 would create new franchise liquor stores for every 6,000 residents in a county with a minimum of 15 per county. That would create as many as 2,000 new liquor stores — far more than the 601 state stores already in place. The bill has a provision that is quite peculiar, but ultimately very revealing: it requires the PLCB to sell wine and spirit products to franchise stores for the same price… Continue reading

No comments

New Report Confirms Assumptions About PA Coverage Losses Under GOP Health Care Plan

  By ACA, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

A new study from the Center for America Progress estimates that 970,000 fewer Pennsylvanians will have health insurance if the GOP health care plan is adopted by Congress. The study also provides detailed estimates for how many fewer people will be covered by Congressional district for each kind of health insurance (traditional Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, marketplace, and employer-based insurance.) The CAP estimates are broadly similar to those we at PBPC have put forward. However, we believe that the CAP study underestimates the number of Pennsylvanians who will lose insurance under the Medicaid expansion by 2026. The CBO estimates that only 5% of Americans will still have insurance under the Medicaid Expansion by 2026. That estimate, applied to Pennsylvania, would mean that only 35,000 people will remain on the Medicaid Expansion by 2026 in our state, while the new CAP study assumes that 450,000 will still have insurance under the program.… Continue reading