New Poll Confirms Americans Want Medical Liability Reform

From a new analysis by The Heritage Foundation of the Obamacare bill making its way through Congress:

An estimated 4.1 million residents in Pennsylvania could lose their private, employer-based coverage if Congress passes a House health reform bill.

Of the estimated 7.6 million Pennsylvanians with private health insurance, 51 percent would transition out of private coverage. Plus, 59 percent of the state's population who get their private insurance from the workplace could have their existing coverage change or disappear under the House health bill.

Also, 32 percent of Pennsylvania's uninsured population would still lack coverage. Of the estimated 1.4 million people without health coverage, the legislation would only reduce the uninsured by 952,600, leaving 447,400 Pennsylvania residents without coverage.

Read more about the study at the link below:

Millions of Pennsylvanians Could Lose Private Insurance, Study Shows

Republicans have an alternative to Obama's socialized medicine proposal:

From the weekly GOP radio address by Rep. Roy Blunt:

"Americans are worried about their access to quality, affordable health care and they are looking for responsible solutions. Republicans agree, and we are committed to developing new and innovative solutions to fix what's broken, while making sure that we keep what works.

"Republicans are committed to access, affordability, competition and a quality system that puts patients and doctors in the driver seat.

"Just imagine a health care system that looks like a government run operation most of us are all too familiar with -- the local DMV. Lines, paper work, taking a number. Or how about another government agency -- the IRS.

"I don't want our health care to resemble that system and you probably don't either. That's why real competition is the key -- it encourages innovation so that the health care treatments and services available to you are the ones that you need and you want. Republicans are committed to common-sense solutions that promote competition and innovation.

"Not surprisingly the government never gets the price right: overpaying for some services, underpaying for others. It's also a system that leads to unfair rationing of care.

"Part of that comes from the backward way the government looks at problems. Washington is the only place that tells you how much they care about something based on how much it costs, instead of how well it works.

"America has the best doctors, health care providers and hospitals in the world. Republicans will lead the effort to make health care work for Americans. We'll also lead the fight against any proposals that undermine your ability to get the treatment the doctor you choose recommends."

The Rendell administration says there are more than 1 million Pennsylvania residents who lack health insurance.

That's a 7.5 percent increase from the number of uninsured in 2004, the last time the state Insurance Department conducted a survey.

Rendell has been governor since 2003. Why hasn't he done something about the number of uninsured? Why have hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians lost health coverage during Rendell's tenure?

The bottom line is that the uninsured have never been a priority for Rendell.

When he wanted to raise the state income tax in 2003, he got it passed in the Legislature. When he wanted to legalize slots in 2004, he won approval in the Legislature. When he wanted the pay raise approved in 2005, he got the votes. Same goes for his massive budgets that have now put the state into debt.

Making sure working families have health insurance is not a priority for Rendell.

The Health Department says that while nearly 18 percent have been uninsured for more than five years, so it's not like Rendell didn't know about the problem.

And the problem might be worse that what the state is reporting because the survey was conducted a year ago. The economy has gotten worse and more people have lost jobs and health coverage.

More Pennsylvanians Are Without Insurance and Health Care, Insurance Department Survey Shows

Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario today praised the decision of the state's two giant Blue Cross insurance carriers to cancel a planned merger.

"Pennsylvania consumers already face one of the least competitive health insurance marketplaces in the country and this consolidation would have made it worse, resulting in fewer choices for consumers and weaker provider networks for consumers who depend on those networks for access to quality health care," said Ario.

What Ario didn't say is that the policies of the Rendell administration and decisions by the state Legislature have led to the poor health insurance climate for Pennsylvania consumers.

Insurance Commissioner Welcomes Withdrawal of Proposed IBC/Highmark Consolidation

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is urging the Rendell Administration to reject a proposed merger of Pittsburgh's Highmark Inc. and Philadelphia's Independence Blue Cross.

Combined, the Blues cover 70 percent of Pennsylvania residents.

From a Post-Gazette editorial:

We aren't convinced that the merger would help patients who face escalating costs for premiums or make it easier for employers to negotiate improved coverage for their workers. In addition, given the increases in the state and national unemployment rates, the estimated loss of 1,200 jobs that is expected to result from a merger couldn't come at a worse time.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has also urged rejection of the Blues merger, as has the Pennsylvania Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.

The final decision is up to state Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario, a Rendell appointee.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.

I hope Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey Jr. are having a good time in the Mile High City.

It sounded like they were enjoying themselves Tuesday when both spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Rendell and Casey, who collectively have held public office for more than 50 years, took a lot of shots at President Bush and Republicans.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual survey measuring poverty and health insurance coverage.

The poverty level remained unchanged in 2007 and the number of uninsured Americans declined by 1.3 million in 2007. There was no mention of the report at the convention because Democrats keep harping about poverty and health coverage. They wouldn't want a dose of reality messing up their tired rhetoric.

But I do have a couple of questions for Gov. Rendell and Sen. Casey.

The Census Bureau reported that the 11.6 percent of Pennsylvania residents are living below the poverty level. How can that be when we've had such stellar leadership under Rendell and Casey?

Rendell has increased state spending by $8 billion since he took office in 2003. Where did that money go? Why wasn't it used to help bring more Pennsylvanians out of poverty?

The Census Bureau listed the median income in Pennsylvania at $48,576. The national average is $50,740. Pennsylvania ranks No. 26 in the nation. Why do Pennsylvania families earn less than the national median? If Rendell and Casey are champions of the working people (as they frequently remind us), why are so many Pennsylvanians struggling?

Rendell says there are 800,000 Pennsylvanians without health care coverage. The number of uninsured Pennsylvanians has grown each year Rendell has been in office. Yet he has failed to reduce that number since taking office in 2003. If it's such a crisis, why hasn't Rendell given the matter a greater priority?

Just wondering.

The U.S. Census Bureau released a report today showing the number of uninsured Americans declined in 2007.

While that's good news for the nation, it's bad news for the Democratic Party, which is making government-mandated health coverage (aka universal health care) a key issue in the presidential race.

The second bit of good news from the Census Bureau is that the poverty rate in the U.S. was unchanged in 2007. Again, this is bad news for Democrats, who continue to use class warfare as a wedge issue. (Do I need to remind you of John Edwards' poverty tour or his "two Americas" rhetoric?)

The Census Bureau reported that the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 1.3 million people in 2007.

The uninsured numbers dropped significantly, from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007, according to the Census Bureau. (Those numbers include an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.)

The poverty rate for 2007 was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from the 12.3 percent registered in 2006.

More good news in the report: The median — or midpoint — household income in the U.S. rose slightly to $50,233.

Democrats will bash the Bush administration during their convention in Denver this week and the story about the decline in the uninsured and poverty rate will be buried deep inside most newspapers.

You can bet that had the news been bad, you'd find it on the front page of your local newspaper or leading the evening news.

You can read the full report at the Census Bureau's Web site, http://www.census.gov/