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WILKES-BARRE — In February 2015, Gov. Tom Wolf expanded Medicaid to ensure that Pennsylvanians can receive affordable, straightforward, accessible healthcare without unnecessary delays and confusion.
This week, Wolf announced that more than 700,000 Pennsylvanians have enrolled in HealthChoices — Pennsylvania’s mandatory managed care Medicaid program — since expansion occurred two years ago.
U.S. Census data shows that the commonwealth’s uninsured rate has dropped from 10.2 percent in 2010 to 6.4 percent in 2015.
“Medicaid expansion is working in the commonwealth. More people have access to health care, thousands of jobs were created, billions of dollars were infused into the economy, and hospitals have reduced uncompensated care,” Wolf said in an emailed news release. “Additionally, we were able to provide access to critical drug and alcohol treatment to 124,170 newly eligible Pennsylvanians, which is helping to battle the opioid and heroin public health crisis.”
Department of Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas said the results of the report validate what was already known — the significant impact this expansion has had on the commonwealth.
• As of Jan. 20, 706,281 Pennsylvanians from across every county are enrolled in Medicaid because of expansion.
• The commonwealth has seen an increase in providers to serve the additional recipients.
• There are 4,422 more physicians, 601 more dentists, and 444 more certified registered nurse practitioners in Pennsylvania now compared to prior to when Medicaid expansion took effect in April 2015.
Pennsylvania also released a report affirming the first year of Medicaid expansion’s positive impact on Medicaid enrollment, uninsured rates, the commonwealth’s budget, and the overall economy from January 2015 to December 2015.
Utilization of health care services was also analyzed from April 2015 to March 2016.
• Year one of Medicaid expansion in the commonwealth had the following impact:
• Reduced the uninsured rate.
• Every county in the commonwealth experienced an increase in Medicaid enrollment that ranged from 14 percent to 28 percent.
• The uninsured rate for non-elderly adults in the commonwealth decreased from 11.7 percent in 2014 to 8.7 percent in 2015.
• More than 550,000 newly eligible individuals were enrolled in the Medicaid program by the end of 2015.
• Increased economic growth.
• Health care providers received over $1.8 billion dollars in payments for serving newly eligible Medicaid expansion enrollees.
• Added an estimated 15,500 jobs in Pennsylvania.
• Increased economic outputs by $2.2 billion.
• Resulted in an additional estimated $53.4 million in state tax revenue.
• Decreased hospital uncompensated care.
According to data compiled by the Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council, uncompensated care for Pennsylvania’s general acute care hospitals has increased every year from 2001 until 2015. This trend was reversed in 2015, when Wolf expanded Medicaid, with the dollar amount decreasing by $92 million or 8.6 percent.
The federal government provided 100 percent health care expenditures for individuals meeting the federal definition of a Medicaid expansion enrollee, which were approximately $2.8 billion in 2015 and represented approximately 11 percent of the total Medicaid expenditures.
Shapiro announces action to prevent scams
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro this week announced a settlement with the Western Union Company, requiring the company to install strong anti-fraud measures to protect consumers from being victimized by scams requiring them to send money to third parties through Western Union.
“We hear all the time from people across Pennsylvania who have lost large sums of money through these scams,” Shapiro said in an emailed news release. “This settlement puts in place meaningful safeguards to help prevent consumers from losing their hard-earned money to these scam artists.”
In addition to Pennsylvania, 48 other states and the District of Columbia participated in the settlement.
As part of the settlement, Western Union has agreed to pay a total of $5 million to the states for states’ costs and fees. Pennsylvania will receive a portion of that total, yet to be determined. In addition to this settlement with the states, Western Union also settled claims related to fraud-induced transfers with the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice.
As part of those settlements, Western Union has agreed to pay $586 million to a fund that the Department of Justice will administer to provide refunds to victims of fraud-induced wire transfers nationwide, including Pennsylvania victims. Of the $586 million, Pennsylvania consumers may be eligible for up to $21.5 million in restitution.
The settlement requires Western Union, based in Colorado, to develop and put into action a comprehensive anti-fraud program designed to help detect and prevent incidents where consumers use Western Union to wire money to scam artists.
Shapiro also issued a warning to Pennsylvanians to be wary of scams, particularly those that require wiring money to a third party.
Those who believe they have been contacted by a scam artist are encouraged to call the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or visit www.attorneygeneral.gov to file a complaint online.
Rep. Toohil reintroduces
postpartum depression bill
Seeking to assist mothers in Pennsylvania who are struggling with postpartum depression and their infants, Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, this week reintroduced legislation that would make them eligible for early intervention services. Toohil was the prime sponsor of a similar measure during the 2015-16 session that stalled in committee.
Under House Bill 200, mothers at high risk for postpartum depression and their infants who are referred by a physician, health care provider or parent would be automatically eligible for assessment and tracking by Pennsylvania’s Early Intervention programs. These programs exist in every county in the Commonwealth.
The bill, which currently has more than 30 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, has been referred to the House Human Services Committee for consideration. A companion bill has been reintroduced in the Senate by Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-46).
Benefits information more accessible
for veterans through outreach vans
Wolf this week reinforced his administration’s commitment to making benefits more accessible to the state’s nearly 900,000 veterans and their eligible family members, through the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs’ Mobile Veterans Outreach Vans. Two vans are available to be scheduled for 2017 community events around the commonwealth.
In 2016, the vans traveled to 157 events across the state, and DMVA staff interacted with nearly 3,000 veterans.
There are a wide range of federal, state and county benefits available to qualified veterans and their families and DMVA’s accredited veteran service officer outreach team can be an excellent source of information and assistance. Such benefits might include service connected disability compensation, pensions, VA health care benefits, burial benefits, education benefits, vocational rehabilitation, active service bonuses, state nursing home care, and much more.
