WHAT: "Don't Let the Clock Run Out on AdultBasic" Candlelight Vigil
WHEN: Wednesday, December 8th at 5:30 PM
WHERE: New Hope United Methodist Church - 114 West North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Contact Erin Gill, Western PA PHAN Organizer for questions or directions: 412-512-9225 or egill@pahealthaccess.org
Via pahealthaccess.org:
More people are out of work, working part-time or working in jobs that don't come with health insurance. Still more have been denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Now, those lucky enough to be covered through adultBasic are at risk of being kicked off their insurance early next year.
We cannot let this happen!
The folks on adultBasic are trying to do the right thing: they are working hard and buying coverage through adultBasic instead of turning to the ER and driving up our costs. All of these folks, their families, their employers or businesses, and their communities will be hurt if the clock runs out on adultBasic.
We fought hard all summer to keep adultBasic funded, and the Blues announced in July that they would continue their contributions through June 30th. Now, they're looking to go back on their word.
It's time to send a message to the Blues and our elected leaders that we won't stand by while time runs out on adultBasic.
If no additional funding is identified, 43,000 working Pennsylvanians will lose their health insurance in February and the 464,000 on the waiting list will have no hope of getting the care they need.
Join us to stand up for the hardworking Pennsylvanians who rely on adultBasic.
2 comments:
AdultBasic was started when Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in western PA, and the Blues in eastern PA, were determined to have far too much cash on hand for a business that claimed to be non profit .
As a compromise, so the insurers wouldn't lose their tax exempt status, the Blues agreed to provide insurance for a percentage of Pennsylvanians. And they did, for a very small percent. In the meantime, 800,000 plus state residents are on the waiting list for Adult Basic, and have been for over 3 years.
During this time the Blues have moved money around so it wouldn't look like they had such a large profit margin, and they kept increasing their rates (especially just before the new health care bill became law).
Consequently, PA's Blue Cross and Blue Shields now have more profit on their books than when they started Adult Basic, yet they have gone to the state, claiming they can no longer support the program.
You can be sure that the Blues are only too quick to point out that they have also had to shoulder new clients with (gasp! and they had just cleared their books of most of them!) pre existing medical conditions. How DID these companies survive before corporate greed became the mantra of the day?!?
Fortunately, PA has another "non profit" that is rolling in dough, and finally, after some severe arm twisting, consented to help with some college fees for inner city HS grads, in lieu of paying taxes.
Yup, it's way past time to hit up Jeffrey Romer, his board and UPMC with an enormous tax bill, remove their tax exempt status, or have them shoulder the expense for the remaining 800,000 Pennsylvanians without health insurance.
This "little" business has tax exemptions on not only all its hospitals, but also all their doctors office buildings, free standing labs, CAT scan offices, oncology treatment sites, billing offices, their insurance plan offices and now their new Urgent Care Centers, and the after hours pediatric care clinic. Give me another few minutes and I'm sure I can think of 10 or 20 more.
Have you noticed the daily ads in the newspapers and on all the local news channels?
The ones on the television are probably being treated as tax exempt, defined as “community education”. But, they don’t teach you anything, except how to get you to one of their hospitals or doctors who handles just the type of problem they are describing.
They are also running (tax exempt) 8-10 page ads in neighborhood magazines, each month. There are daily ads in the local and weekly papers. Have you flown recently? They have multi page ads in the in flight magazines.
UPMC also has clinics in the Middle Ease, Russia, China and Europe. Apparently they are free standing oncology, drug administration sites. Cheap to put up and run, pure profit for our non profit entity.
It appears that if UPMC simply slashed its advertising budget it could well afford to take on all of AdultBasic. It is apparent that UPMC has made a concerted effort to monopolize medical care, advertising the fact that they are on every corner is not necessary. It is certainly past time for the state to be taking a serious look at businesses that claim to be providing public services in lieu of paying taxes. It is especially important that knowledgeable people audit the services supposedly being provided by the hospital. After all, using the services of interns and residents for medical and surgical care, sample drugs provided by pharmaceutical companies, equipment provided gratis by medical providers and donors, reimbursement by the government from whatever safety net the hospital attempts to get for the patient, should all be deducted from what UPMC supposedly claims to be “donating” to the community.
Now we need to see if our local Mayor and County Executive have what it takes to push this action forward. If what happened in Braddock is any sign, I wouldn’t bet on it.
AdultBasic was started when Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in western PA, and the Blues in eastern PA, were determined to have far too much cash on hand for a business that claimed to be non profit .
As a compromise, so the insurers wouldn't lose their tax exempt status, the Blues agreed to provide insurance for a percentage of Pennsylvanians. And they did, for a very small percent. In the meantime, 800,000 plus state residents are on the waiting list for Adult Basic, and have been for over 3 years.
During this time the Blues have moved money around so it wouldn't look like they had such a large profit margin, and they kept increasing their rates (especially just before the new health care bill became law).
Consequently, PA's Blue Cross and Blue Shields now have more profit on their books than when they started Adult Basic, yet they have gone to the state, claiming they can no longer support the program.
You can be sure that the Blues are only too quick to point out that they have also had to shoulder new clients with (gasp! and they had just cleared their books of most of them!) pre existing medical conditions. How DID these companies survive before corporate greed became the mantra of the day?!?
Fortunately, PA has another "non profit" that is rolling in dough, and finally, after some severe arm twisting, consented to help with some college fees for inner city HS grads, in lieu of paying taxes.
Yup, it's way past time to hit up Jeffrey Romer, his board and UPMC with an enormous tax bill, remove their tax exempt status, or have them shoulder the expense for the remaining 800,000 Pennsylvanians without health insurance.
This "little" business has tax exemptions on not only all its hospitals, but also all their doctors office buildings, free standing labs, CAT scan offices, oncology treatment sites, billing offices, their insurance plan offices and now their new Urgent Care Centers, and the after hours pediatric care clinic. Give me another few minutes and I'm sure I can think of 10 or 20 more.
Have you noticed the daily ads in the newspapers and on all the local news channels?
The ones on the television are probably being treated as tax exempt, defined as “community education”. But, they don’t teach you anything, except how to get you to one of their hospitals or doctors who handles just the type of problem they are describing.
They are also running (tax exempt) 8-10 page ads in neighborhood magazines, each month. There are daily ads in the local and weekly papers. Have you flown recently? They have multi page ads in the in flight magazines.
UPMC also has clinics in the Middle Ease, Russia, China and Europe. Apparently they are free standing oncology, drug administration sites. Cheap to put up and run, pure profit for our non profit entity.
It appears that if UPMC simply slashed its advertising budget it could well afford to take on all of AdultBasic. It is apparent that UPMC has made a concerted effort to monopolize medical care, advertising the fact that they are on every corner is not necessary. It is certainly past time for the state to be taking a serious look at businesses that claim to be providing public services in lieu of paying taxes. It is especially important that knowledgeable people audit the services supposedly being provided by the hospital. After all, using the services of interns and residents for medical and surgical care, sample drugs provided by pharmaceutical companies, equipment provided gratis by medical providers and donors, reimbursement by the government from whatever safety net the hospital attempts to get for the patient, should all be deducted from what UPMC supposedly claims to be “donating” to the community.
Now we need to see if our local Mayor and County Executive have what it takes to push this action forward. If what happened in Braddock is any sign, I wouldn’t bet on it.
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