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Health care is in the lead for Pennsylvania leaders and legislators this year while state legislature is starting to mark a new budget and considers a host of new bills and policies.
In his Annual budget address On Tuesday, Governor Josh Shapiro urged legislators to fight against labor shortages, hospitals in difficulty and health care health care operations.
Meanwhile, the Republicans say they focus on reducing programs expenses and costs like MedicaidAn insurance program for low -income people.
Here are some of the main legislative health care priorities that draw attention to the start of this year.
Protections of the affordable care law
The Act respecting affordable care, adopted by the congress in 2010, guarantees essential advantages for health such as free annual examinations and insurance coverage for blood tests and prescriptions, treatment of mental health and drug addiction , emergency care and more.
The federal law also prohibits the practice of insurers denying coverage due to pre -existing conditions, allows children to stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26 and offers insurance options to individuals and small companies.
During his first presidential mandate, Donald Trump tried to repeal the ACA, But failed the legislature. In his second term, He is committed to making changes On the program and how it is funded, without any specific details on these levels.
In his budgetary speech, Shapiro said Pennsylvania should adopt ACA’s protections in State Law. About 1.2 million people in the state obtain health care thanks to ACA plans, officials said.
“If we do not do it and ACA disappears, health care costs will increase considerably for the Pennsylvanians,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Senate and the Democrats of the Chamber are heading A series of invoices This would adopt ACA’s protections in state law, with early support from certain Républicains de la Chambre. The bills have been referred to respective banking and insurance committees.