Pennsylvania health insurance : Rendell takes action
Pennsylvania health insurance : Rendell takes action by EasyToInsureMe
With the four strokes of his pen, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell took action on four health care reforms in the state, including the expansion of COBRA health and increasing the age limit for a dependent coverered under a parent’s health plan.
Three of the four bills Rendell signed June 10 were part of his “Prescription for Pennsylvania” series of reforms and another, the expansion of the COBRA program, was originally proposed as a part of a package of health care bills by Senate Republicans.
Rendell praised the work of the legislature in “working together to pass these bills which will help provide health care coverage for thousands of uninsured Pennsylvanians, reduce the cost of health care and will improve health care quality for all Pennsylvanians,” he said in a statement.
Over the last few years, Rendell and the Senate Republicans have battled over his desire to expand health coverage in the state.
SB 189 allows uninsured single, adult children up to age 30 to be covered by their parents’ health insurance plan. Parents must pay the premiums and coverage hinges on an employer’s willingness to offer the benefit to employees with children.
The bill takes effect in six months and coverage will be on a rolling basis after that as contracts are renewed, according to the governor’s office.
The expansion comes amidst research last year that 40% of the state’s total uninsured population, or 383,298 residents, are between the ages of 19 and 29. The new legislation will help reduce that number, Rendell said.
“[This bill] will be the answer to the prayers of parents whose kids will be graduating from college and will be kicked off their health insurance policies because they’ve reached the maximum age,” the governor said. “Parents and kids are stressed because the kids are now uninsured and are having trouble finding jobs, with health insurance, due to the current economic situation.”
HB 109 expands federal COBRA law to Pennsylvania businesses with fewer than 20 employees through a “mini-COBRA” program. The bill allows these employees to continue receiving health insurance at the business’ expense for up to nine months.
Legislators piggybacked on the federal stimulus plan, which permits employees who lose their jobs and qualify for COBRA to receive a government subsidy of 65% for their care. In Pennsylvania, small business employees who lost their jobs between July 10 and Jan. 1, 2010, will be eligible for the subsidy.
Rendell said this bill will help “relieve the worry” of small business employees about to lose their job and now have the opportunity to keep health coverage while searching for new employment.
The other bills signed by Rendell were HB 84, prohibiting health care providers from seeking reimbursements for a serious, preventable medical error, or “never events,” and SB 89, reauthorizing the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), which the governor called “the nation’s premier health care data collection and reporting agency.”
The Pennsylvania Association of Health Underwriters, a trade group representing many Pennsylvania health insurance agents and brokers, had lobbied in support of three of the bills signed by the governor. They were the bills prohibiting providers from filing insurance claims for adverse foreseeable events, the COBRA expansion and the reauthorization of the PHC4, according to its contract lobbyist, Vince Phillips.
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