HARRISBURG – (February 9th, 2015) Senator Vincent Hughes released the following statement on changes to “Healthy PA” announced today by Governor Tom Wolf:
“I want to praise Governor Tom Wolf for announcing today the first step towards transitioning away from so-called “Healthy PA” to true Medicaid expansion. Instead of simply accepting more than $4 billion in federal funds to offer more than 500,000 people health insurance in our proven Health Choices system, the former administration chose to create a complicated web of obstacles creating barriers for Pennsylvanians in need of critical health services. This is simply not fair and clean, straightforward Medicaid expansion fixes this injustice.
“We also know that this decision makes fiscal sense for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Operating a complicated, layered system chips away at the estimated $400 million in annual savings Medicaid Expansion brings for the state budget. These savings are desperately needed given the structural deficit grown over the past four years. Once again, I want to offer my support for the bold steps announced by Governor Wolf today.”
Senator Vincent Hughes represents the 7th Senatorial District, which includes parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County. He is also the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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