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R
EPUBLICAN
P
OLICY
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ON
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TANLEY
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AYLOR
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HAIRMAN
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ANDY
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ULAKOVICH
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B
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202094 | H
ARRISBURG
, PA 17120 | (717) 783-6426 |
WWW
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PAGOPPOLICY
.
COM
September 25, 2009Barack ObamaThe President of the United StatesThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20500Dear Mr. President:We listened with interest to your recent speech to the Congress concerning your views on federalhealth care reform. You stated, “If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there tolisten. My door is always open.” You reiterated that invitation and your willingness to work in a bi-partisan manner seeking solutions, during your appearances on several news shows televised this past weekend.We are not members of Congress, but as state representatives in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we can tell you that we saw the need for health care reform back in 2007 and formeda Task Force to study this multi-faceted problem. We researched the subject with constituents andstakeholders statewide, before expanding our research nationwide. We even interviewed those who participate in health care plans in other countries to see what worked and what didn’t. Based oncountless hours of research and interviews we then developed a legislative package of bills to lower the cost of health care for all Pennsylvanians and expand access to health care to those who areuninsured. We have been advocating these principles for the last two legislative sessions.We are writing to share our ideas with you based on your invitation “to listen”. We want to shareour ideas in the hope that you will make Pennsylvania a demonstration project worthy of nationalattention and hopefully, duplication. We believe our solutions are in keeping with your self-described guiding principle “that consumers do better when there is choice and competition.”Mr. President, our plan is based on free market competition which will lower health care costs. Our plan is not implemented by raising taxes and causing additional stress to middle class familiesalready struggling. We have created a model suitable for our current economy, so that even if a person loses his/her job, he/she will be assured access to health care.
President ObamaPage 2September 25, 2009Please allow us to briefly highlight the scope of our plan:
PA BasicCare
- (Killion) Amendment A01387 to House Bill 1� Provides an affordable, low-cost insurance product.
adultBasic Retool
- (Mustio) Amendment 01393 to House Bill 1� Allows more Pennsylvanians access to the adultBasic program byestablishing a sliding scale premium based on income and requires the departmentto verify eligibility every six months and utilize rolling enrollment procedures.
Health Information Technology -
(Cutler) Amendment 01397 to House Bill 1� Uses the one-time federal stimulus funds as a source of funding grants to bring technology online for the prevention of medical errors and greater efficiency.
E-Prescribing
- (Baker) Amendment A01398 to House Bill 1� Requires health care facilities throughout the Commonwealth to utilize anelectronic prescribing system.
Health Care through Clinics
- (Watson) Amendment A01379 to House Bill 1� Invests $25 million for the expansion of Federally Qualified HealthCenters, hospital based clinics, free clinics, etc. to increase access to primary and prenatal care. Also provides a medical and dental home and helps to lower thecost of care.
Dental Provider Incentive
– (Saylor) Amendment 01399 to House Bill 1� Provides a supplemental salary to recent dental graduates who dedicate a percentage of their practice to treating Medical Assistance (MA) patients. Helpsto bring dentists into communities with a need.
Cost Transparency
- (Stern)� Re-enacts the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council and requires thecouncil to publish the medical charges and reimbursement rates for Medicaid,CHIP and adultBasic, which helps to allow consumers to makeinformed decisions regarding their health care. Also helps to keep the marketcompetitive and reign in the cost of care.
Employer Tax Credit
- (Boyd) Amendment A01404 to House Bill 1� Provides a $1,000 per employee tax credit for small business owners (lessthan 50 employees) who provide health insurance to their employees. A one-year clawback would require employers to pay back the amount received if they dropinsurance coverage. This encourages employers to provide health care for their employees and prevent crowd-out, whereby employers stop providing health
President ObamaPage 3September 25, 2009
Individual Tax Credit
- (Vulakovich) Amendment A01405 to House Bill 1� Provides a $1,000 tax credit to individuals who purchase health insuranceif their employer does not provide such coverage.
Chronic Disease Control Tax Credit
- (Reichley) Amendment A01403 to HouseBill 1� Provides a $500 per employee tax credit for small business owners (lessthan 50 employees) who purchase and provide a disease management program.
Allied Health Professional Loan Forgiveness
- (Baker) Amendment 01406 toHouse Bill 1� Provides student loan repayment to qualified recent allied health professional graduates who practice full time in designated shortage areas.
Peer Review
- (Cutler)� Extends protections from suit to persons who hand over informationrelating to the conduct of medical professionals who are reviewed by healthfacility credentialing committees. Individuals who provide information or services are provided whistleblower protections.
Benevolent Gesture
- (Gillespie) Amendment A01391 to House Bill 1� Establishes an admission made by a health care provider to a patient, or their representative, regarding the patient’s discomfort, pain, suffering, injury or death resulting from a medical treatment shall be inadmissible as evidence of liability if made before commencement of any legal action.
Securitization of MCAREUnfunded Liabilities
- (Schroder) AmendmentA01374 to House Bill 1� Secures the entire balance of the Health Care Provider Retention Account for use of paying off MCARE liabilities.In your speech, you also stated that you propose moving forward on medical malpractice reform.Pennsylvania’s 12 million citizens represent a wide demographic that we believe makes theCommonwealth an excellent state for a demonstration project. Our bi-partisan Senate and Househave passed tort reform legislation twice, only to have it vetoed by Governor Rendell. We ask that your Secretary of Health and Human Services strongly consider Pennsylvania for one or more of these initiatives.
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