Category: ACA

Marc Stier | 06/25/2017 Blog One of the fascinating / distressing things about the health care debate on Facebook is that it’s bringing the truth out in a way that the debate in the Senate is not. If you have any doubt that this is a inflection point in our history, in which the forces of tolerance, compassion and justice are arrayed against the forces of bigotry, greed, and injustice, look at what the opponents of the ACA are saying.   I’ve seen folks blaming “fat, poor people who eat badly” for their own illnesses because, as they would say, most illness is self-inflicted. of course, there are no rich people who ever get fat or eat badly, yet they get health care. I’ve seen folks say they shouldn’t pay for the health care of those who can’t afford it, even though they don’t do so under the ACA, which… Continue reading

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

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

The following is an analysis of how the recently-released House GOP proposal, the “American Health Care Act,” would affect Pennsylvanians: The health care legislation introduced by the House Republicans late yesterday is a devastating and dishonest attack on not only the Affordable Care Act, but on the Medicaid program. When fully implemented, it will have horrible consequences not only for the health of low- and moderate- income Pennsylvanians, but on long-term care for all but our wealthiest senior citizens. We will be providing a thorough analysis of the legislation soon. But our preliminary analysis suggests that when the program is fully implemented, around 1 million low- and moderate- income Pennsylvanians will lose health insurance; the state budget will lose at least $2.5 to $3 billion in funding; at least 60,000 Pennsylvanians will lose their jobs, and over 4,000 Pennsylvanians per year will die prematurely. Some key points: The bill would… Continue reading