The end of a government-funded subsidy that made it easier forthe unemployed to continue their health insurance benefits willlikely send thousands more into the ranks of the uninsured, expertssaid.
Coupled with the elimination of a last-resort health insuranceprogram that left 40,000 Pennsylvanians scrambling for coverage, theend of the subsidy will likely put pressure on the region's already-strained health care resources.
'Any time people have the potential to lose insurance, there'sthe potential to impact' hospitals and other health care providers,said Roger Baumgarten, spokesman for the Hospital & HealthsystemAssociation of Pennsylvania. 'What that impact is, it's too soon totell.'
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,people who lost their jobs only had to pay 35 percent of theirhealth insurance premiums under COBRA, a federal act allowingunemployed workers to retain health insurance coverage for up to 18months.
The remaining 65 percent of the cost of the COBRA coverage wasreimbursed to the coverage provider as a tax credit.
The subsidy expired May 31, 2010, meaning the last of the peopleeligible began paying the full amount of their monthly COBRApremiums this week. But with monthly premiums averaging more than$1,000 a month for many families covered by COBRA, health insuranceconsumer advocates like those at Families USA say many will be leftunable to continue to pay for their coverage.
'It will leave a lot of people uninsured,' said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, Families USA deputy director of health policies, addingthat under COBRA, 'people pay the share their employer had paid aswell as their own share, which eats up most of an unemploymentcheck.'
Additionally, data from the state agencies released Thursdayshowed that few of the 40,000 who had been enrolled in the now-defunct adultBasic health insurance plan have enrolled in alternateinsurance programs - meaning many of those subscribers are nowwithout health insurance, said Pennsylvania Health Access Networkspokeswoman Antoinette Kraus.
The adultBasic program, funded by surpluses from the four BlueCross insurers in the state, ended in March. It offered coverage topeople who lacked access to health insurance through an employer orwere denied coverage through a pre-existing health condition butmade too much money to qualify for medical assistance.
According to data collected by state agencies, only about 4percent of former adultBasic subscribers were eligible for medicalassistance. Another 34 percent enrolled in a plan called SpecialCare, which Pennsylvania Health Access Network officials said is upto four times more expensive than adultBasic.
Around the region, hospitals and free health clinics are bracingfor an increased demand as more people become unable to affordhealth insurance.
Free health clinics around the region are already struggling tomeet the increased demand, experts said. At the Wilkes-Barre FreeClinic, staff see between 30 and 45 people a week according to nursecoordinator Judy Spitale, R.N.
'I can't give anyone an appointment until October,' she said.'We're so busy now, it's unbelievable.'
Mountain Top Free Medical Clinic's coordinator Donna Smith, R.N.,said she is seeing an increase in the severity of complaints frompatients.
Hospitals officials are also expecting an increase in emergencyroom visits by people without health insurance, which will putadditional strain on their ability to break even.
In fiscal year 2010, hospitals across the state saw an 8 percentincrease in uncompensated care. Much of that increase, equalingabout $891 million, can be attributed to people who do not haveinsurance and cannot pay the bill for their hospital care, expertssaid.
But hospital officials have little choice but to treat theuninsured.
'By law, hospitals cannot refuse to provide care,' said CommunityMedical Center spokeswoman Wendy Wilson. 'We have to provide care toanyone who comes to us.'
