As you advocated in the editorial "Dropping the Baby: DPW is Wrong to Cut Newborns' Hospital Care" (June 8), valuing life should include adequate funding for newborns' hospital
care under Medicaid, which pays for almost half of all births in
Pennsylvania. Even at a time of austerity, some sacrifices are just
too great.
Absent financial support for obstetrical services, hard pressed rural
hospitals might be forced to eliminate them, further decreasing the
availability of medical care for pregnant women in many counties
in the Commonwealth. This gap should also be viewed in the context of
the United States' ranking 31st in infant mortality.
Fortunately, there is a humane and affordable solution. Pennsylvania
has a single payer plan, the Family and Business Health Security Act (SB 400/HB 1660),
which builds on the advances of the federal Affordable Care Act and
would fund comprehensive health care for all Pennsylvanians through
publicly financed, privately delivered services. It would save
billions of dollars for taxpayers, businesses, and government through
a significant reduction in the overhead of the current health
insurance industry ( as much as 30%). The plan also
includes mechanisms to address the gap in health care in
Pennsylvania's rural areas.
Let's welcome the newest Pennsylvanians with the care all human beings
should receive. (More information is available at
www.healthcare4allpa.org.)
--
Bob Mason
Vice President
Health Care 4 All PA
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