Pennsylvania ABC (Access to Basic Care)

By Babette Josephs

The full House gave its initial approval to the House Democrats' plan + Pennsylvania ABC (Access to Basic Care) + that would help hundreds of thousands of working Pennsylvanians without health insurance gain access to affordable coverage while continuing our commitment to helping doctors pay their medical malpractice insurance premiums.

Pennsylvania ABC would also help small business employers defray the cost of providing health coverage to their low-wage employees, as well as end the suffering of people who are denied private insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Pennsylvania ABC would:

• Provide more than 270,000 uninsured working Pennsylvanians access to basic health care.
• Immediately provide affordable health insurance to the 80,000 Pennsylvanians who are on the adultBasic waiting list.
• Make $42 million available for grants to small business employers who have been doing the right thing all along by providing health-care coverage to their employees.
• Assist doctors by continuing to help them pay their medical malpractice insurance premiums.
• Lower the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals, which costs us 1.4 billion a year and adds hundreds of dollars to every insurance premium.
• Lower the cost of care for all Pennsylvanians.