Summary of House Republican
Health Care Legislative Proposals

AFFORDABLE

PA BasicCare – (Rep. Tom Killion, R-Delaware):
Provides an affordable, low-cost insurance product.
- Offers an affordable coverage option in the private insurance market for individuals and employers with no waiting list or deductive.

Individual Tax Credits – (Rep. Randy Vulakovich, R-Allegheny):
Provides a $1,000 tax credit to individuals whose employer does not provide health insurance coverage if they purchase their own health insurance coverage.

Employer Tax Credits – (Rep. Scott Boyd, R-Lancaster):
Provides tax credits to small businesses with 50 employees or less who provide health insurance coverage.
- Encourages employers to provide health care for their employees
- Prevents crowd-out, whereby employers stop providing health insurance to employees

Disease Management Tax Credits – (Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh):
Provides per employee tax credit for employers with fewer than 50 employees who offer health care policies which include “disease management” protocols.
- Encourages consumers to have a stake in their health care
- Lowers costs by reducing hospital use

Cost Transparency – (Rep. Jerry Stern, R-Altoona):
Re-enacts the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council and requires them to publish health care costs. Requires medical charges and reimbursement rates for Medicaid, CHIP and AdultBasic to be posted electronically.
- Allows consumers to make informed decisions regarding their health care
- Keeps the market competitive
- Reigns in the cost of health care

ACCESSIBLE

AdultBasic Retool – (Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny):
Allows more Pennsylvanians access to the adultBasic program by establishing a sliding scale premium based on income and requires the Department to verify eligibility every six months.
- Removes barriers for eligible adults to enroll in adultBasic
- Helps to lower the cost of care by decreasing emergency room use

Expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers – (Rep. Kathy Watson, R-Bucks):
Invests $25 million for the expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers, hospital-based clinics etc. to increase access to primary and prenatal care.
- Provides a medical and dental home
- Increases access to primary health care
- Helps to lower the cost of care by decreasing emergency room use

Dental Provider Incentive – (Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York)
Improves dental access for Medical Assistance (MA) patients by establishing a contracted annual supplemental salary to recent dental graduates, who dedicate a certain portion of their practice to serving MA clients.
- Brings dentists into communities with a need
- Provides incentives to students who pursue higher education and training in dentistry
- Establishes quality oral health care services across PA and improves health care to MA patients

Allied Health Professional Loan Forgiveness – (Rep. Matt Baker, R-Tioga)
Establishes the Physician Loan Retention Forgiveness Program whereby allied health professionals who complete training in the Commonwealth and agree to practice medicine in medically underserved areas will receive a portion of their school loan paid for by the Commonwealth.
- Encourages allied health professionals who graduate to stay in the Commonwealth
- Provides medical care in needed areas

QUALITY

Benevolent Gesture – (Rep. Keith Gillespie, R-York): Establishes that a benevolent gesture or admission of fault made by a health care provider to a patient, or his relative/representative, regarding the patient's discomfort, pain, suffering, injury or death resulting from a medical treatment or procedure shall be inadmissible as evidence of liability if made before commencement of any medical professional liability action.

Health Information Technology – (Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster):
Proposes a public/private partnership to share costs of bringing technology online for the prevention of medical errors and greater efficiency.
- Provides better quality health care services
- Provides seamless access to medical records

Medical Credentialing - (Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster):
Improves the medical credentialing and oversight of health care professionals.
- Improves the quality of care by keeping bad doctors out of the system

Health Care Freedom Act – (Rep. Matthew Baker, R-Bradford/Tioga):
Preserves the freedoms of individuals to purchase private health care insurance and choose their own health care.

Health Care Freedom – (Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester)
Amends the Pennsylvania Constitution and provides the means for voters to decide their health care choices.