DePasquale, Torsella warn of health care, fiscal impacts if Medicaid expansion eliminated

Jan. 28--WILKES-BARRE -- Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and state Treasurer Joe Torsella this week warned Congress that eliminating the Medicaid expansion provision in the Affordable Care Act could jeopardize health care for more than 675,000 Pennsylvanians and push the state's structural budget deficit even higher.

"There will be devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of mostly rural, working poor, Pennsylvanians if Congress eliminates the Medicaid expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act," DePasquale said during a joint news conference with Torsella. "We want to remind our congressional delegation that Medicaid expansion -- called 'HealthChoices' in the keystone state -- helped real people and families receive health care."

CNN reported last week on the impact on eliminating Medicaid expansion in rural areas like southwestern Pennsylvania and focused on Fayette County where close to one-third of the county's population relies on Medicaid coverage.

Torsella said not only would the state lose $3 billion in direct federal health reimbursements for Pennsylvanians, but the state's total economic activity could be reduced by $4.5 billion. It would also add at least $300 million to our state's structural budget deficit, he said.

DePasquale said eliminating Medicaid expansion could also hamper Pennsylvania's fight against the ongoing opioid crisis that claimed 3,500 residents last year.

The pair of Pennsylvania fiscal watchdogs noted that the benefits of Medicaid expansion are recognized by officials in both parties across the country.

In a recent op-ed in Time magazine, Ohio Gov. John Kasich touted the benefits of Medicaid expansion for 700,000 people in his state, writing, "According to a recent assessment of Ohioans who gained coverage through Medicaid expansion, a majority now find it easier to find or keep a job, manage their health to avoid costly trips to the hospital down the road, and even find it easier to put food on the table."

Similar, serious concerns are being echoed by Democrat and Republican governors.

DePasquale and Torsella conveyed those sentiments in a letter to Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators and 18 congressional representatives urging them to keep the Medicaid expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act.

"We urge you to review the facts carefully before you cast a single vote that could lead to the end of Medicaid for the nearly three-quarters-of-a-million Pennsylvanians added under the ACA," they wrote.

Wolf: Medicaid block grant effort could cut health

coverage for children, seniors, and addiction treatment

Gov. Tom Wolf this week said the federal government should not pursue a block grant program that would cut funding for Medicaid coverage for many hard-working Pennsylvanians and their families, including seniors getting nursing and home care, people with disabilities, children and those being treated for substance use disorder.

"The current plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would cut health care for our most vulnerable residents, including children, seniors and individuals suffering from opioid and heroin addiction," Wolf said in an emailed news release. "This will have a devastating impact for many Pennsylvanians, and I will fight any attempt to cut coverage for hard-working families and seniors."

Shifting Medicaid to a block-grant program has emerged as part of a still unknown plan to follow the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. A plan introduced in 2012 by the current Speaker of the House to block-grant Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program would lead to funding reductions of approximately one trillion dollars in just a decade, and impact services that could result in:

--Seniors and children losing their health insurance.

--Some of our most vulnerable Medicaid enrollees losing access to drug and alcohol treatment, which is essential in battling the opioid and heroin public health crisis that took over 3,500 lives in Pennsylvania in 2015.

--Nursing home care for Pennsylvania seniors put at risk.

--Closures of rural hospitals and put rural health care in danger.

Wolf has already contacted U.S. congressional leadership and Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, warning of the impact on these populations and communities from a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Marino introduces bill

to protect correctional officers

This week, U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Lycoming Township, co-introduced H.R.-613 to amend title 18 of the United States Code to require the director of the Bureau of Prisons to ensure each chief executive officer of a federal penal or correctional institution provides a secure storage area located outside of the secure perimeter for firearms carried by certain employees of the Bureau of Prisons.

"Correctional officers make a choice to protect us from dangerous criminals every single day," Marino said in an emailed news release. "At the very least, they should be afforded every opportunity to do the same for themselves."

Marino said without a secure place to hold firearms while on the job, officers on their way to and from work are vulnerable to vicious attacks.

"Allowing secure storage for firearms at prisons is a common sense solution that will help us protect law enforcement officers from unnecessarily risky situations," Marino said.

PA Department of Aging bolsters efforts

to improve services for LGBT older adults

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging leadership team, along with leaders from the Office of Long-Term Living, and board members of the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging participated in a training session last week to improve cultural competency inside aging services for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender older adults.

The training was provided by Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders.

"During the crafting of the 2016-2020 State Plan on Aging, we repeatedly heard calls for increased cultural competency and our need to better serve and support diverse communities," Secretary of Aging Teresa Osborne said in an emailed news release. "Through that effort, we made positive connections with SAGE and others who are willing to partner with us, so leaders of aging services in Pennsylvania can achieve the cultural competence necessary to better respond to the needs of LGBT older adults and seniors living with HIV/AIDS."

The fourth goal of the 2016-2020 State Plan on Aging is "empower the workforce." The session served as a catalyst for this effort as it brought aging services leaders together to focus on the culture, needs, and concerns of LGBT older adults. It also highlighted best practices for ensuring that LGBT older adults and seniors living with HIV/AIDS are welcomed and included in the spectrum of aging services.

During 2017, the Department of Aging will continue its efforts to collaborate with multiple LGBT stakeholder groups in order to ensure that Pennsylvania's LGBT seniors and older adults living with HIV/AIDS are well represented. These efforts will include the department's on-going participation on the Governor's LGBT Workgroup and evaluating ways to address data collection on gender identity.

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