Corbett's decisions will kill Pennsylvanians
HARRISBURG – Today, state Rep. Lawrence Curry joined fellow House Democrats, as well as citizens served by adultBasic and a physician representative to call on Gov. Tom Corbett not to pull the plug on this insurance program for low-income Pennsylvania workers.
"It is not out of the realm of possibilities that Pennsylvanians will die if we don't keep adultBasic afloat. Such horrific results happened in Arizona when that state allowed its low-cost insurance for low-income people to end," said Curry, D-Montgomery/Phila.
Currently, about 41,000 people depend on adultBasic for access to medical care. Without funding, the program will end at the end of February. Pennsylvania's Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans have largely funded adultBasic over the past several years, but Corbett is pursuing a plan that would move enrollees onto the Blues' "Special Care" program.
Curry said "Special Care" is not an acceptable option to adultBasic because it costs more (premiums start at $80 per month as compared to $36 for adultBasic) and coverage is limited.
"Am I to understand that at a time when Pennsylvanians are struggling financially more than they've struggled since the Great Depression, that we are willing to ask them to pay more for less while telling our wealthy insurance companies that they don't have to share their profits to make sure low-income moms and dads can see a doctor when they are sick," questioned Curry. "It’s bad for working people's health but great for the Blues plans because they get to more than double the premiums and the sky is the limit for their profits.
"I don't understand why we cannot ask our Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurers, whose reserves have grown 61 percent since 2002, to continue contributing to a program that has proven successful in keeping people healthy, and keeping all of our insurance rates down."
Curry charged that pricing low-income working individuals out of health insurance will be as reprehensible as what is happening in Arizona, where at least two previously covered people have died after the state cut them off from funding for lifesaving organ transplants.
"Last summer, Republicans across the country were crying that health care reform proposed by Democrats would result in 'death panels' cutting people off from treatment because they were too expensive," Curry said.
"Well, the death panels are here, but it’s the Republicans behind the table and they're warming a chair for Tom Corbett to join them.
"I appeal to Tom Corbett's humanity to not be so heartless to the Pennsylvanians who depend on adultBasic for their care and survival and to their loved one who would have to watch them die without it."
Contact: Lauren Rooney, 717-787-7895
