PRINTER'S NO. 3933
No. 356 Session of 1988
INTRODUCED BY RICHARDSON, DORR, COY, EVANS, CORRIGAN, DALEY,
CIVERA, GAMBLE, McCALL, LESCOVITZ, COLAFELLA, LaGROTTA,
BELFANTI, COWELL, YANDRISEVITS, D. W. SNYDER, SAURMAN,
CORNELL, GLADECK, REBER, FOX, HAYDEN, RAYMOND, BUNT, NAHILL,
LASHINGER, HAGARTY, J. TAYLOR, WESTON, CARLSON, BUSH,
ANGSTADT, McVERRY, BATTISTO, CALTAGIRONE, COLE, MAYERNICK,
MICHLOVIC, BILLOW, MARKOSEK, VEON, SALOOM, DOMBROWSKI,
LIVENGOOD, D. R. WRIGHT, O'BRIEN, KENNEY, WOGAN, PERZEL,
DONATUCCI, OLIVER, JOSPEHS, KOSINSKI, ROEBUCK, KITCHEN,
HUGHES AND FATTAH, NOVEMBER 22, 1988
ADOPTED IN HOUSE, NOVEMBER 22, 1988
A RESOLUTION
1 Requesting the Governor to include a special section in the
2 Commonwealth's 1989-1990 budget document that addresses
3 certain health care issues.
4 WHEREAS, Access to health care services for all
5 Pennsylvanians is a public policy objective of the Commonwealth
6 of Pennsylvania; and
7 WHEREAS, Access to health care services for citizens with
8 limited financial resources could be jeopardized by the
9 Commonwealth's current reimbursement levels for the Medical
10 Assistance program; and
11 WHEREAS, Concerns regarding quality of care, access to care,
12 predictability of reimbursement rates and adequacy of
13 reimbursement under the Medical Assistance program have been
14 raised by hospitals and all other health care providers; and
15 WHEREAS, Hospitals and all other health care providers are an
1 important economic force in their communities and threats to
2 their economic viability and vitality pose a threat to those
3 communities, large and small; and
4 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth's Medical Assistance inpatient
5 rates are less than the amount determined by the Department of
6 Public Welfare to be required to adequately pay for inpatient
7 care provided under the Medical Assistance program, thereby
8 preventing health care providers from recovering a reasonable
9 percentage of their costs; and
10 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has not raised the majority of
11 outpatient fees under the Medical Assistance program since 1982,
12 thereby preventing health care providers from recovering a
13 reasonable percentage of their costs and jeopardizing the
14 ability of those providers to serve Medical Assistance
15 outpatients; and
16 WHEREAS, Health care providers are unable to plan, budget or
17 manage effectively because they are not informed of their
18 Medical Assistance reimbursement rates in a timely fashion;
19 therefore be it
20 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives hereby requests
21 the Governor to give particular consideration to the issues and
22 concerns raised in this resolution when he prepares the
23 Commonwealth's annual budget for the fiscal year 1989-1990; and
24 be it further
25 RESOLVED, That the House further requests the Governor to
26 include in the budget document a special analysis that addresses
27 in detail the issues and concerns raised in this resolution.
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