The Department of Health and Human Services announced today their acceptance of Governor Corbett’s HealthyPA plan.
The HealthyPA plan was created by Gov. Corbett as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
To put it succinctly, the ACA allowed for an expansion of Medicaid to families making 133% of the poverty line. The Supreme Court decision upholding the law, though, allowed for states to choose to opt-out of the expansion. As a result, many red states refused the money.
Gov. Corbett proposed his own HealthyPA plan, which would involve accepting the funds from the government but only allowing them to be spent on private insurance plans and not Medicaid. Similar proposals by Arkansas and Iowa have received federal approval.
There are still nonetheless several logistical barriers to implementation.
For one, Tom Wolf is likely to oppose any effort to adopt this private plan and will pledge to adopt the federal Medicaid expansion if he should be elected.
This development may scare off insurance companies, who would be hesitant to build up infrastructure for a plan that may not see the light of day. It’s possible that these companies will take a wait and see approach and allow the election to take place before making any major moves.
The Pennsylvania Health Action Network (PHAN) applauded the decision but called for a full Medicaid expansion.
“Today’s agreement begins to dig Pennsylvania out of the hole Governor Corbett and lawmakers created when they rejected funding to expand health care coverage to half-a-million low-income Pennsylvanians,” said PHAN Director Antoinette Kraus. “There never should have been a coverage gap in Pennsylvania, and we share the relief of hundreds of thousands of uninsured Pennsylvanians in knowing it’s finally on track to close.”
Therefore, well this is a major development it very well may not be the last one.
Update: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Wolf released the following statement:
“It is unfortunate that hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians lost a year of health care coverage, but I am gratified that they and their families will now have added health and economic security.”
“After standing in the way of Medicaid expansion for years, Tom Corbett has finally been forced by political reality to accept a Medicaid proposal.”
“Tom Corbett’s unconscionable delay has cost Pennsylvania hundreds of millions of dollars while making it more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians to get the health care they needed.”
“Tom Corbett should have expanded Medicaid on day one instead of wasting two years. Tom Corbett’s repeated mismanagement is completely unacceptable, and it underscores the importance of giving Pennsylvania a fresh start.”
Loading ...
13 Responses
Chris is right! He has to care about everyone; after all he is running for governor. well at least everyone registered to vote. See people open your eyes. Chris is a super genius and you all just don’t see it.
That’s right, especially the drillers, some are from Pennsylvania.
basil, that aint true. he care about everbody in penna
Chris…. you forgot to insert rich.
guevonro corbitt allways said he want to do whats rite for all the peple of penna
So, ObamaCare is embraced by Governor Corbett and the PaGOP… Wonder what Pat Meehan and Pat Toomey and Tom McGarrigle and Bill Adolph and all the other GOPers schilling for votes in DELCO and railing against the “evils” of ObamaCare will do to spin this? We are doing this better because we are paying more for less than the same healthcare companies provide through medicare? will that be their message? It seems to be all they have to do.
The real shame here is that we have wasted years, and time and money on lawsuits to stop ObamaCare and consultants developing CorbettCase instead of just expanding Medicare to begin with…Corbett and the GOP agenda fails again!
These schtick accounts are getting old – it’s not clever, it’s not funny. Why don’t you guys find something better to do with your lives?
Yikes! I am in trouble for reelection. Better call Obama.
If you read through the press packet (http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/cs/groups/webcontent/documents/document/c_098845.pdf), the PCOs are mostly the same MCOs that currently manage legacy Medicaid.
Corbett is reinventing the wheel here, but hey, if that is what it took to get half a million more people covered, this liberal will take it.
THERE IS NO THERE IN CORBETTCARE! FORMER GOVERNOR CORBETT WASTED OUR TIME. HE DELAYED HELPING THE WORKING POOR, UNLIKE KASICH IN OHIO. FOR TEAPARTY CONSERVATIVES HE HAD TO GIVE UP THE MOST APPEALING PART OF CORBETTCARE: IF THE BUMS DON’T WORK THEY DON’T GET HEALTHCARE. THIS IS ANOTHER LOSE; NOT A WIN. SQUARELY THE BLAME RESTS WITH JENNY FROM THE BLOCK BRANSTETTER. : Doing Medicaid the Corbett Way Imposes Hefty Corruption Tax on PA Taxpayers – Keystone Politics
http://keystonepolitics.com/2014/08/pagov-medicaid-corbett-way-imposes-hefty-corruption-tax-pa-taxpayers/
warier, guevenor corbitt aint done an he aint gonna be done til after him secand term witch he gonna win ina land slide in noveber.
Corbett is, well, an idiot for not taking these Federal tax dollars…, Pennsylvanians tax dollars and expanding Medicaid. The whole tired mantra the Repubtards keep jamming down peoples throats that…, “the private sector can do it better should read; the private sector can do it better with free government money” – meaning,the government pays, they’ll administer the program for a hefty profit” ! Just more patronage really.
Corbetts done. His political future is over also. Given the top job in the state, he has performed miserably. Gasoline is .35cents a gallon cheaper in Ohio just across the border. The PA turnpike is double the cost of what it used to be.
So so long Tom C. AND Welcome Tom W. – A welcome change and a breathe of fresh air that is sorely needed.
It is extremely likely that the private insurance companies that offer this plan will be mostly the same companies that provide Medicaid managed care services for the Medicaid program. But, they will get a higher reimbursement and the people who are covered will get a more limited benefit. Definitely worth an 18 month wait.