By PaDems.com
– Yesterday, Tom Corbett announced an out-of-touch health care plan. Instead of proposing a common-sense plan to provide health care access to 500,000 more Pennsylvanians, Corbett’s proposal will reduce coverage, create obstacles, and increase costs for the the Commonwealth’s most-vulnerable. It is no wonder that Corbett’s plan has been roundly criticized.
Philadelphia Daily News: Conservative lawmaker rips ‘one term Tom’ Corbett
“State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the conservative Republican from Butler County said Tuesday morning on The Chris Stigall Show that Gov. Corbett was doomed to be ‘one term Tom’ in the wake of his decision to accept federal Medicaid money to expand health-care coverage from the working poor. Metcalfe said the governor had betrayed the conservative principals he stands for by enlarging an entitlement. ‘I think he’s done,’ Metcalfe said on the show, broadcast on WPHT 1210 AM ‘The Big Talker’ out of Philadelphia.” [Philadelphia Daily News, 9/17/13]
Newsworks: Corbett proposes Medicaid health plan ― with conditions and changes
“‘Private insurance tends to cost more than Medicaid because Medicaid controls the prices it pays providers,’ [Robert Field, a health law professor at Drexel University] said. ‘it has very strict fee-schedules for doctors and hospitals, and it pays the lowest druge prices of any insurance arrangement in the country.'” [Newsworks, 9/16/13]
The Sentinel: Corbett’s Medicaid plan concerns lawmakers, officials
“Antoinette Kraus, director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network cautioned the governor against stripping protections and benefits from seniors, children and people with disabilities who are currently covered by Medicaid. ‘Expanding coverage for some while reducing coverage for others is not a responsible plan,” she said. “The governor should not put more obstacles in the path of hardworking Pennsylvanians or set the price of coverage so high that it remains unaffordable.’”
[The Sentinel, 9/17/13]
Politico: Pennsylvania to take Medicaid funds, with a catch
“Joan Alker, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, said the success of Corbett’s plan in Pennsylvania ‘really comes down to whether or not he’s sincere about wanting to extend coverage to the newly eligible.’…Alker said his decision to link Medicaid to employment status would be an unprecedented change in the safety net structure. ‘I don’t believe people’s health care should be conditioned upon their job search requirements,’ she said.” [Politico, 9/17/13]
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: Corbett puts conditions on Medicaid deal
“Corbett is still ‘putting ideology above common sense’ by insisting on things like the work-search requirement and the need to shift people into the exchanges rather than Medicaid, said Neil Bisno, president of the SEIU Health Care of PA, a union representing health care workers. ‘The quickest, simplest and best way is to expand Medicaid’ Bisno said.” [Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, 9/17/13]
York Dispatch: York response less than enthusiastic about Corbett plan
“Dr. Kenneth Woerthwein, a member of the NAACP and National Physicians Alliance, is a retired physician who ran a family practice in York from the mid-1970s to 2009. A proponent of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion, he doesn’t understand how Corbett’s plan will address issues for the poor, he said. The thing is, many people in the group are already working,’ Woerthwein said, whether it be in home nursing care, fast food or retail. ‘For them, it makes no sense to implement something like that.’ It’s also illogical for them to pay monthly premiums, he said. ‘You barely have enough money to pay for basic necessities,’ Woerthwein said.” [York Dispatch, 9/17/13]
Source: http://www.padems.com/press/tom-corbetts-irresponsible-health-care-plan-faces-wide-criticism
