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Secretary Cortes calls Latino Community to
action against ailing health care system…Death
toll due to lack of health care coverage
twice 2006 homicide rate
PHILADELPHIA, May 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A.
Cortes today echoed Governor Edward G.
Rendell's call for Senate passage of
legislation to provide affordable health
care for every Pennsylvanian, and he
extended the challenge to the Latino
community.
"The only way to cure the health care
crisis afflicting hundreds of thousands of
Pennsylvanians is to immediately remedy an
ailing system," Cortes said during a press
conference and community outreach event at
the Maria de los Santos Health Center in
Philadelphia.
Cortes was joined by Pennsylvania Insurance
Department Deputy Commissioner George
Hoover; Concilio Executive Director Roberto
Santiago;
Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce President and CEO Varsovia
Fernandez; Delaware Valley Health Vice
President and Chief Medical
Officer A. Scott McNeal, D.O.; and Delaware
Valley Health Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer Brenda Robles Cooke.
On average, two Pennsylvanians died every
day in 2006 because they lacked health
insurance, according to Families USA, a
health care advocacy group.
Nationally, lack of health insurance was
responsible for twice as many deaths as
homicide in the same year.
"The Rendell administration refuses to
accept that 767,000 of our fellow
Pennsylvanians face each day in fear that
there is no affordable health care for them,
their loved ones, or their employees," he
said.
"I encourage the Latino community to refuse
to accept it, too, and to contact their
legislators today."
According to the state Insurance Department,
the health care crisis is everyone's
business. Approximately 6.5 percent of
insurance premiums paid by businesses and
individuals is spent on covering the health
care costs of
the uninsured.
"Public opinion polls show increasing
anxiety about the current health system, as
more employers shed coverage and premium
costs outpace inflation each year," said
Deputy Insurance Commissioner George Hoover.
Between 2000 and 2006, more workers in
Pennsylvania lost employer-provided health
insurance than workers in any other state,
except California.
Prescription for Pennsylvania is Governor
Rendell's plan to ensure access to
affordable health insurance for all
Pennsylvanians, expand access to health
care, improve the quality of care and bring
health care costs under control for
employers and workers.
The Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care
program (PA ABC), the health insurance plan
recently passed by the House of
Representatives, expands on Governor
Rendell's proposal.
Health coverage under PA ABC would be
offered through private insurance companies.
Employers could participate if they have not
offered health care
coverage to their employees for at least six
months, if they have 50 or fewer employees
and, if, on average, those employees earn
less than 300 percent of the federal poverty
level, or $31,200 per year.
All uninsured adults in Pennsylvania -
regardless of employment status or income
level - would be able to buy affordable
health insurance through this program at the
same premium rate the commonwealth pays. In
addition, an individual from a family of
four who earns up to $42,400 a year will
receive help from the state in paying part
of his or her ABC premium.
For more information about Governor
Rendell's Prescription for Pennsylvania,
visit
http://www.rxforpa.com.
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