{"id":141226,"date":"2025-03-26T00:55:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141226"},"modified":"2025-03-26T00:55:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:55:58","slug":"pa-house-passes-affordable-care-act-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141226","title":{"rendered":"PA House Passes Affordable Care Act Protections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>HARRISBURG, March 25<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today voted to ensure that people maintain access to essential health care under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n<p>House Democrats voted unanimously for the bills, which would ensure that these essential protections remain in place for Pennsylvanians despite threats to dismantle the ACA at the federal level:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.palegis.us\/legislation\/bills\/2025\/hb0755\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Insurance Preventive Services Coverage Act<\/a>: Requires health insurance policies to cover preventive health care services without cost-sharing.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.palegis.us\/legislation\/bills\/2025\/hb0535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Insurance Protections Against Limitations Act<\/a>: Stops insurance executives from capping coverage for essential benefits.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.palegis.us\/legislation\/bills\/2025\/hb0404\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Insurance for Young Adults Act<\/a>: Makes sure parents can keep their children insured until age 26.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.palegis.us\/legislation\/bills\/2025\/hb0618\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Insurance Access Protections Act<\/a>: Protects coverage for pre-existing conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWe are committed to making sure that health insurance works for all Pennsylvanians, regardless of what happens in Washington, DC,\u201d said House Insurance Committee Majority Chairman Perry Warren, D-Bucks, who sponsored the bill to maintain coverage for preventative service.\u00a0&#8220;The ACA requires health insurers to cover many different types of preventive care, and it&#8217;s saved countless lives. We must ensure that this aspect of the ACA as well as the other protections we voted for remain in place. It could literally be a matter of life or death.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo patient should ever have to hear that they\u2019ve maxed out their coverage when they still have months of treatment ahead,\u201d said House Health Committee Majority Chairman Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, who sponsored the bill banning lifetime limits on coverage for essential benefits. \u201cOur bill package would ensure that regardless of attacks on consumer protections by Washington politicians, Pennsylvanians can rely on their insurance coverage when they need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal Affordable Care Act addressed a significant issue by allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance until age 26, preventing young adults from losing coverage when they turned 18,\u201d said state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, who sponsored the bill to ensure children have insurance until age 26. \u201cHowever, parts of the Affordable Care Act remain under threat from Republicans in Congress. If the Affordable Care Act were ever struck down, many adult children could lose their health insurance, potentially leading to a crisis in the health insurance market. I was proud to stand with my colleagues and vote yes on my bill today, taking an important step toward protecting health coverage for young Pennsylvanians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to give people peace of mind that their insurance coverage will continue, no matter what happens at the federal level,\u201d said state Rep. Jim Haddock, D- Lackawanna\/Luzerne, who sponsored the bill protecting coverage for pre-existing conditions. \u201cBefore the ACA, it was common for people with serious ailments like cancer or heart conditions to be denied health insurance coverage because of having a pre-existing condition. This meant that many Pennsylvanians seeking essential medical care faced unnecessary burdens on their finances and health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Affordable Care Act is at risk,\u201d said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. \u201cThat\u2019s why we must take action\u00a0here in Pennsylvania to enshrine its protections into state law. We can\u2019t go backward. There\u2019s too much at stake. It\u2019s time to take off our red jerseys and blue jerseys and put on our Pennsylvania jerseys to get this done for the good people of our commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe care about the Affordable Care Act because we want to see that our patients and the communities\u00a0they are a part of are healthy,\u201d said Matt Yarnell, president of SEIU Healthcare PA. \u201cWe also care because our members aren\u2019t just health care workers, they are health care consumers who have benefitted from the protections that the ACA has given us. Many of our union\u2019s Homecare workers are unable to access employer-based health care, and the ACA and Medicaid expansion is how this important workforce accesses health care. We can\u2019t eliminate health care for thousands of health care workers who would have no other way to access health care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am here to fight for the protections of the Affordable Care Act because every Pennsylvanian deserves to see a doctor when they are sick or injured, no matter what,&#8221; said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa. &#8220;As these bills make their way to the Senate, my colleagues and I will continue to raise our voices to fight for quality, affordable, and accessible health care for every single Pennsylvanian. Let\u2019s get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe health care of Pennsylvanians matters,\u201d said state Sen. Vincent Hughes, Democratic Appropriations chair\u00a0and prime co-sponsor of the Senate versions of the ACA protection bills. \u201cWhile Republicans in Washington are actively working to cut health care, Pennsylvania Democrats will not be distracted by their obsession to make billionaires richer. Health care is essential, and we are doing everything we can at the state level to make sure people in Pennsylvania have access to high quality, affordable care. The system isn\u2019t perfect, but we will continue to work with leaders, advocates, and communities to protect what is working and fix what is falling short.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This year marks the 15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of the signing into law of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Affordable Care Act made necessary changes to our health care system. I saw first-hand as a physician how discriminatory health insurance practices prevented people from getting the care they needed because they could not get coverage. Ambiguous definitions of pre-existing conditions were enough to keep people from getting insurance \u2013 too often keeping people away from the care they needed until situations became an emergency,\u201d said Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. \u201cEveryone \u2013 no matter where you get health insurance &#8212; is better off because of the ACA\u2019s actions to prioritize consumer protection in health insurance, and we cannot go backwards. We must continue the progress we have made over the last 15 years by codifying these critical consumer protections in Pennsylvania law so no matter what, Pennsylvanians\u2019 health will be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvanians can access ACA health coverage through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pennie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pennie<\/a>, Pennsylvania\u2019s official health insurance marketplace, where people can access high quality affordable health insurance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Affordable Care Act has made high-quality insurance more affordable for consumers than ever before,\u201d said Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys. \u201cConsumers no longer have to\u00a0worry about being denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions or paying out-of-pocket for essential health services like annual checkups and certain screenings or immunizations. Thanks to the ACA, we now have a healthier Pennsylvania, and I\u2019m proud to see the advancement of legislation that would make the ACA a permanent reality here in the commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ACA protection package now moves to the Pennsylvania Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Information provided to TVL by:<br \/>\nPA House Democratic Leadership<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HARRISBURG, March 25\u00a0\u2013 The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today voted to ensure that people maintain access to essential health care under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. House Democrats &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141226\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">PA House Passes Affordable Care Act Protections<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/HARRISBURG-copy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141226"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/115768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}