PRINTER'S NO. 1568
No. 1316 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY WOZNIAK, GRUITZA, STEWART, D. R. WRIGHT, SEVENTY,
CLARK, BARBER, WAMBACH, FREEMAN, PETRARCA, VAN HORNE, OLASZ,
McHALE, TELEK, HALUSKA, McCALL, KUKOVICH, KOSINSKI, WOGAN,
WESTON, ITKIN, AFFLERBACH, EVANS, BELFANTI, MURPHY, ZWIKL,
CAPPABIANCA, CORDISCO, WACHOB, DeLUCA, COLAFELLA, RAPPAPORT,
MANDERINO, DOMBROWSKI AND PIEVSKY, JUNE 30, 1983
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND WELFARE, JUNE 30, 1983
AN ACT
1 Providing for the establishment, operation and administration of
2 a matching grant program to provide medical services to
3 unemployed workers and their dependents; and imposing powers
4 and duties on the Department of Public Welfare.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Unemployed
9 Workers Health Care Act.
10 Section 2. Legislative intent.
11 The General Assembly, in order to improve the provision of
12 medical services to the unemployed and their dependents and in
13 recognition of the extent to which hospitals and clinics have
14 been gathering financial resources from communities in order to
15 provide such services, intends to make available State funds
16 from the PennPRIDE Fund on an annual basis to offset a portion
17 of the cost of providing such services.
1 Section 3. Definitions.
2 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
3 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
4 context clearly indicates otherwise:
5 "Department." The Department of Public Welfare.
6 "Dependents." The spouse and dependent children of an
7 unemployed worker.
8 "Hospital." A facility having an organized medical staff and
9 providing equipment and services primarily for inpatient care to
10 persons who require definitive diagnosis or treatment, or both,
11 for injury, illness, pregnancy or other disability exclusive of
12 all State, Federal, profit and speciality hospitals.
13 "Medical services." The term means and includes:
14 (1) Emergency medical care which is care rendered in
15 response to the sudden and unexpected onset of a medical, not
16 surgical, condition requiring medical, not surgical,
17 intervention which the recipient secures immediately after
18 the onset or as soon thereafter as the care can be made
19 available, but in no case later than 72 hours after the
20 onset.
21 (2) Nonemergency medical services which are any
22 compensable physicians' (including prenatal and postpartum
23 care) services other than those provided for conditions
24 urgently requiring medical intervention in order to sustain
25 the life of the person or to prevent damage to his health.
26 (3) Inpatient hospital care which includes room, board
27 and professional services furnished to a patient on a
28 continuous 24-hour basis in a semiprivate room of a hospital.
29 It includes those items and services ordinarily furnished by
30 the hospital for the care and treatment of inpatients
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1 provided in an institution maintained primarily for treatment
2 and care of patients with disorders other than tuberculosis
3 or mental disease.
4 "Primary health center." A community-based nonprofit
5 corporation meeting standards prescribed by the Department of
6 Health, which provides preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic and
7 basic emergency health care by licensed practitioners who are
8 employees of the corporation or under contract to the
9 corporation.
10 "Secretary." The Secretary of Public Welfare.
11 "Unemployed worker." Residents of Pennsylvania who:
12 (1) have been terminated or laid-off or who have
13 received a notice of termination or layoff from employment,
14 are eligible for or have exhausted their entitlement to
15 unemployment compensation and are unlikely to return to their
16 previous industry or occupation;
17 (2) have been terminated, or who have received a notice
18 of termination of employment, as a result of any permanent
19 closure of a plant or facility; or
20 (3) are long-term unemployed and have limited
21 opportunities for employment or reemployment in the same or a
22 similar occupation in the area in which such individuals
23 reside, including any older individuals who may have
24 substantial barriers to employment by reason of age.
25 Section 4. Criteria for grants.
26 (a) General rule.--The Department of Public Welfare is
27 hereby authorized to establish procedures to provide grants to
28 eligible hospitals and primary health centers to offset costs
29 incurred in providing medical services to the unemployed and
30 their dependents. Medical services provided by eligible
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1 hospitals and primary health centers shall include, but not be
2 limited to, emergency and nonemergency medical services
3 (including prenatal and postpartum care) and inpatient hospital
4 services. Services provided in connection with a nursing home
5 shall not be covered by this act.
6 (b) Guidelines.--The secretary shall develop guidelines for
7 soliciting proposals from eligible hospitals and primary health
8 centers for the provision of medical services to the unemployed
9 and their dependents.
10 (c) Evaluation criteria.--The secretary shall develop
11 criteria for evaluating proposals received from eligible
12 hospitals and primary health centers taking into consideration:
13 (1) The willingness of the hospital or primary health
14 center to provide medical services to those eligible under
15 this act whenever necessary.
16 (2) The scope of the services to be provided.
17 (3) The number of unemployed projected to be served.
18 (4) The estimated per capita cost of providing medical
19 services to the unemployed and their dependents.
20 (5) The willingness of the community served by the
21 hospital or primary health center to provide a 10% match for
22 any grant received from the State.
23 (d) Grants.--The secretary shall grant not less than $50,000
24 and not more than $1,000,000 annually to any single eligible
25 hospital or primary health center. The maximum individual grant
26 limit may be exceeded if funds remain to be expended after all
27 eligible hospitals and primary health centers seeking funds have
28 received an initial allocation from the annual appropriation.
29 Section 5. Termination of program.
30 The program established pursuant to section 4 shall cease to
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1 exist when the economic emergency in the Commonwealth has been
2 alleviated, which shall be deemed to occur at 12:01 a.m. on the
3 fist day of the fiscal year which begins more than 60 days
4 following a consecutive three-month period in which the
5 unadjusted rate of unemployment of the civilian labor force in
6 the Commonwealth as reported by the Pennsylvania Office of
7 Employment Security in the Department of Labor and Industry for
8 each month is equal to or less than the rate of unemployment for
9 July 1981.
10 Section 6. Effective date.
11 This act shall take effect immediately.
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