As you know, we, and many others, have had concerns about Governor Corbett’s Healthy PA proposal, which is currently open for public comment at the federal level. While we and other groups commenting support the intent of the state to move forward, the proposal has many problems. The deadline to comment is Friday, April 11th at 6 am. (Yes, really.)
A group of national organizations, including CCF, have identified their topline concerns about the proposal and written a letter to submit as part of the federal public comment process. If your organization is interested in signing on to these concerns, please email childhealth@georgetown.edu.
Chief among these concerns is the Governor’s proposal to establish a work search pilot program for the newly eligible. As the letter points out: “Programs aimed at connecting people to employment, however laudable, have no connection to the purposes of the Medicaid program, and Pennsylvania’s proposal should be rejected on this basis.”
Other issues highlighted as problematic in the letter include the imposition of premiums for those above the poverty line, which would be significantly higher than those in the marketplace at similar income levels; the request to waive all wrap around benefits for newly eligible beneficiaries who would be served by “private insurance”; the request to cut benefits for current beneficiaries and the vague and open-ended nature of many of the state’s requests.
While the proposal is allegedly modeled on Arkansas’s approach, the letter points out that “the proposal deviates significantly from the Arkansas approach in ways that are troubling.”
Note: Georgetown CCF, with input and in partnership with First Focus, prepared a sign-on letter for child advocates highlighting the more direct impacts of the Healthy Pennsylvania waiver proposal on children. Groups interested in signing on to this letter can do so here.
