Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Increasing healthcare coverage for all Pennsylvanians

More than 800,000 Pennsylvanians are without health insurance. More workers in Pennsylvania lost their healthcare coverage between 2000 and 2006 than workers in any state other than California. Caring for the uninsured costs Pennsylvania hospitals an estimated $1.4 billion each year. The National Coalition on Health Care estimates that healthcare for the uninsured costs American taxpayers nearly 100 billion each year.

Conklin supports common sense, bi-partisan solutions to this health-care crisis that would expand the number of uninsured, support small businesses that provide healthcare for employees, and generate funds to pay for the expansion of coverage.

* Conklin voted in favor of the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care (ABC) program that would provide access to basic health care for more than 270,000 uninsured Pennsylvania workers. 80,000 Pennsylvanians currently on the waiting list for adult basic care would be insured immediately.
* The ABC program provides $42 million in grants to help small business employers who have been providing health-care coverage for employees
* The cost of ABC will be paid for by increasing the tax paid on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Supporting access to health care in rural Pennsylvania

Access to affordable, quality health care in rural areas is a particular concern in Pennsylvania. Residents in rural areas comprised 23% of the population in 2005 yet these residents often have inadequate access to health care providers. Rural residents are also more likely to lack adequate health insurance and one-third of Pennsylvanians on the waitlist for adult basic coverage live in rural areas.

Conklin has worked to solve these problems. He voted in favor of the ABC insurance plan and worked to restore health care to the Mountain Top area. In 2008, the Pennsylvania Rural Health Care Association acknowledged Conklin as a strong supporter of health care reform in rural areas.

* Conklin supports the removal of regulatory barriers that limit the use of non-physician providers such as Nurse Practioners and Physician's Assistants, who could increase access to basic care for rural residents.

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