Bucks County Rep. DiGirolamo Wrong on Medicaid Expansion
Doing bidding of big, corporate hospitals
Philadelphia, PA – Jennifer Stefano, State Director of Americans for Prosperity – Pennsylvania, says Bucks County Representative and Chairman of the Human Services Committee Gene DiGirolamo wants to make a promise that our state will not be able to keep by supporting expansion of the broken Medicaid system.
“State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo’s public call (as reported Friday by the Associated Press) to expand the federal Medicaid scheme shows he’s standing up for big, corporate hospitals and not the working families in his district.” She added, “People on Medicaid often experience worse health outcomes than those who are without coverage at all. How can Gene DiGirolamo call for a Medicaid expansion scheme and leave behind the most needy and vulnerable?”
One-third of Pennsylvania’s doctors will not accept new Medicaid patients, because of the program’s convoluted, multilayered regulations and low compensation rates. Nearly 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s citizens (over 2.2 million people) are enrolled in Medicaid at a cost of $8.2 billion in 2012. The federal Medicaid expansion scheme, part of President’s Obama’s healthcare law, would not reform the current system but would expand the failed program to a new base of people, jeopardizing the most vulnerable and needy who currently rely on Medicaid and are in need of a better system.
Stefano stated, “It’s time more politicians stood strong like Governor Corbett and rejected the federal Medicaid expansion scheme. DiGirolamo was elected to protect the working families of his district, not help out multimillion-dollar hospital conglomerates. We thank Governor Corbett for not buying into this failed aspect of the President’s healthcare law.”
House Majority Whip Rep. Stan Saylor has introduced HB 269 (co-sponsored by thirty-six other representatives), which precludes Pennsylvania from participating in ACA’s Medicaid expansion. “We continue to call on the Governor and our state legislators to stand strong in rejecting the federal Medicaid expansion scheme and to protect the poor and working families who would be forced to pay for this failure once the federal money runs out,” said Stefano.
For more information or to interview Jennifer Stefano, please call (215) 321-2333 or email infoPA@afphq.org.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen-leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and intrusiveness of government is the best way to promote individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
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