PRINTER'S NO. 2847
No. 466 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY PISTELLA, HESS, DeWEESE, BELFANTI, BISHOP, CAWLEY,
CRUZ, DALEY, FABRIZIO, GEORGE, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HERSHEY,
HORSEY, JAMES, JOSEPHS, KOTIK, PALLONE, PAYNE, PETRONE,
READSHAW, SHANER, SOLOBAY, SURRA, WALKO, YOUNGBLOOD, YUDICHAK
AND WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 27, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
OCTOBER 27, 2003
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress to reject section 631 of Senate Bill No. 1,
2 the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003,
3 providing for employer flexibility.
4 WHEREAS, Employer flexibility would allow employers to cut or
5 cancel the health benefits of Medicare-eligible retirees; and
6 WHEREAS, The employer flexibility provision is inconsistent
7 with legislation enacted for the purposes of protecting older
8 workers and the elderly in retirement; and
9 WHEREAS, Medicare was signed into law in 1965 by President
10 Johnson, providing health insurance protection under the Social
11 Security Act; and
12 WHEREAS, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
13 (ADEA) was enacted to protect individuals 40 years of age or
14 older from employment discrimination based on age; and
15 WHEREAS, The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) was
16 enacted in 1990 specifically to prohibit employers from denying
1 benefits to older employees; and
2 WHEREAS, If adopted, the employer flexibility provision
3 allowing employers to cut health care benefits of Medicare-
4 eligible retirees is discriminatory; and
5 WHEREAS, Such action would present a hardship on retirees who
6 have planned for their retirement and who rely on the health
7 care benefits promised by their employers; and
8 WHEREAS, Few, if any, retirees have reasonable and affordable
9 alternatives for obtaining health care coverage, and few
10 retirees are able to reenter the work force; therefore be it
11 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
12 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
13 States to preserve the health care benefits of Medicare-eligible
14 retirees by rejecting section 631 of Senate Bill No. 1; and be
15 it further
16 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
17 the President of the United States and to each member of
18 Congress from Pennsylvania.
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