Senate Committee Holds Mcare Hearing
Members of the Pennsylvania medical community asked the Senate’s Banking and Insurance Committee on June 3, 2008, to separately consider Mcare abatement extension and phase-out and a plan to expand health insurance coverage to the uninsured. The issues are all addressed in the Democrats’ plan, Senate Bill 1137, which has been passed by the House and is being considered by the Senate.
Republicans on the committee agreed that the issues should be considered separately, although the governor has threatened to veto any Mcare legislation that doesn’t include a plan to expand health insurance coverage.
Acting Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario told the committee that there is a connection between the two programs because hospitals and physicians will benefit if more Pennsylvanians are insured.
Two physicians testified that the medial liability climate adds to Pennsylvania’s difficulty recruiting and retaining physicians.
Russell Stankiewicz, MD, a Lewisburg OB-GYN, testified that retention and recruitment are very real problems in both urban and rural areas. Shannon Cothran, on OB-GYN resident at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, said only one out of eight residents at Jefferson plans to stay in Pennsylvania. She plans to practice in Virginia.
On the same day, two Senators—Sens. Vincent Hughes (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) and Jay Costa (D-Allegheny)—announced that they intend to introduce a discharge resolution to force a vote on SB 1137.
Last Updated: 8/13/2008