For Immediate Release
5/5/09

Banking and Insurance Committee Approves Health Care Bills

"Mini-COBRA" would allow more to use fed stimulus to retain coverage

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee today approved two bills that include provisions of the HealthNET PA legislative package introduced by Senate Republicans, according to Committee Chairman Senator Don White (R-41).

House Bill 1089 creates a Mini-COBRA Small Employer Group Health Plan in Pennsylvania for businesses with 2 to 19 employees. This bill is identical to Senate Bill 442, introduced by Senator White, which was approved by the Banking and Insurance Committee on March 10 and by the Senate on April 1.

"As I noted when we considered the Senate versions of these bills, it is essential that we quickly move this legislation to the Governor's desk," Senator White said. "This is especially the case for House Bill 1089 since it will enable more Pennsylvanians who are out of work to take advantage of federal assistance to retain health care coverage."

The federal stimulus act provides a 65 percent federal subsidy for COBRA premiums. The subsidy is good for up to nine months for those covered by COBRA, which pertains to businesses with 20 or more employees, as well as those in state programs such as the Pennsylvania Mini-COBRA program established by HB 1089.

House Bill 84 allows health insurers to withhold payment to providers in the event of a preventable serious adverse event.  Specifically, a "preventable serious adverse event" is defined as a condition or negative consequence of care that results in unintended injury or illness that could have been anticipated and prepared for, but occurs because of an error or other system failure, and results in a patient's death, loss of a body part, disability, or loss of bodily function lasting more than seven days.

This legislation is the companion bill to Senate Bill 443, introduced by Senator White, which the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved on March 10 and was approved by the Senate on March 25.

In addition to approving the House Bills, the Banking and Insurance Committee conducted a public hearing to receive an update on the Long-Term Care Partnership Program.

Act 40 of 2007 created the Long-Term Care Partnership Program which provides a financial incentive for individuals to buy long-term care insurance. Prior to the enactment of Act 40, consumers were required to 'spend down' their assets before taxpayer-funded Medicaid covered the expenses associated with long-term care. As a result, many individuals and families spent all of their assets well before they entered long-term care, forcing taxpayers to pick up the costs, which can be significant.

Under the Long-Term Care Partnership Program, individuals can now retain an amount equal to the amount of long-term care insurance they hold. Therefore, a person with a $100,000 policy is entitled to keep $100,000 in assets when Medicaid steps in. That means Medicaid realizes savings of $100,000, based on the amount paid by the policy, and the individual keeps $100,000 in assets.

"Now that the Long-Term Care Partnership Program has been in place for a while, I believe it was important that we receive an update on how it has fared and discuss ways to improve it and how to encourage more people to enroll," Senator White said.

Contact:

Joe Pittman
(724) 357-0151

Additional Information:
HealthNET
Health Care

  Print this page

 E-mail this page

Back