|
For Immediate
Release
10/25/11
Watch
|
Listen
- 1:24
Senate Majority Policy Committee Discusses Health Care
Clinics and the Uninsured, Urges House Action
Harrisburg – The Senate Majority Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted
Erickson (R-26), today held a public hearing on health care clinics and the
uninsured in Pennsylvania.
"The purpose of the meeting is to show how health care clinics are a vital,
cost-efficient component of the health care delivery system," Erickson said.
"The Commonwealth needs to act, now, to foster the development of new health
care clinics and ensure that the existing clinics are able to meet the health
care demands of the populations that they serve."
Testifiers included representatives of community health centers and
hospital-based clinics from across Pennsylvania, including Dr. Sharon Carney,
Associate Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. These
officials outlined how clinics offer cost-efficient care that save health system
dollars, while representatives of Independence Blue Cross explained that it
funds clinics as part its social mission.
In 2010, community-based health care clinics provided 700,000 uninsured
Pennsylvanians with a medical home that emphasizes coordination between patient,
physician, nurses and staff. The clinics are a place where patients are
recognized and supported, and where they find a centralized base for medical
care and connection to other medical and community services.
In May, the Senate unanimously approved
Senate Bill 5, legislation sponsored by Senator Erickson to create the
Community-Based Health Care Program to provide grants to community-based health
care clinics. The House Health Committee has yet to consider the measure or even
hold a public hearing on it. The Senate unanimously passed similar legislation
in the 2009-10 legislative session, but the House Health and Human Services
Committee did not consider it or hold a hearing.
"Meanwhile, those without insurance, and without money to pay for care,
cannot access preventive care and are using our emergency rooms for services
that would be available at health care clinics," said Erickson. "We must do more
in Pennsylvania to strengthen and expand the healthcare clinic network that is a
vital part of the Commonwealth's safety net to ensure that we can continue to
meet the health care needs of our citizens in the future."
Contact:
Michele Hansarick
(717) 787-1350
|
