Group seeks health-care reform

Delco Times

October 1 , 2008
By Amy Brisson

CHESTER - Around a dozen people gathered in the rain at Sen. Dominic Pileggi's Chester office Wednesday afternoon to call on him to move forward a health-care reform bill in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Members of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN), a statewide coalition of health advocacy groups, briefly held up mock tombstones along Avenue of the States, before being chased away by the blustery, wet weather.

"We're on the verge of a health-care crisis," said PHAN organizer Antoinette Kraus, who accused Pileggi, R-9, the senate majority leader, of blocking Senate Bill 1137.

The bill would establish the Pennsylvania Access to Better Care Program, a five-year, $1.4 billion plan to cover 272,589 uninsured Pennsylvanians, first introduced by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell in 2007.

There are an estimated 767,000 Pennsylvanians without access to health insurance, some 24,000 of whom live in Delaware County, according to the state Department of Health.

The bill would also reform the state-run Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Fund, or MCARE abatement. A version of the bill passed the state House of Representatives in March by a vote of 118-81.

It's a personal issue for Melissa Grothus, one of the protesters from Media and an employee of PHAN.

She lost her health insurance coverage for two months in 2003, and wound up in the hospital with a kidney condition.

"Essentially, I ended up in the hospital for a week's time with $30,000 in medical bills, on top of $20,000 in school loans," she said.
With the help of a hospital care plan, it took Grothus five years to pay off the debts. Now, she said, she is pushing for reform to protect others from landing in the same predicament.

Pileggi was not in his office Wednesday afternoon, but issued a statement to the protesters offering to meet with them at a future date.
The statement highlighted budget concerns, including the state's growing $280 million deficit.

"As we push forward to improve health-care access and deal with electricity rate spikes in our state, we need to be sure that we have sufficient funding to continue existing programs, which will face heavier demand in an economic downturn without creating additional pressure on diminishing state resources," Pileggi said.