Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that creates the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care (PA ABC) program to extend subsidized health care coverage to uninsured state residents.

Highlights:

- Defines an eligible adult as an individual who is between the ages of 19 and 64, is eligible for Medicare, has a household income not more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level, and has been without health care coverage for at least 180 days, unless the loss of coverage was a result of divorce, death, or change in employment (Sec. 11). - Defines an eligible employer as an employer that has between two and 50 full-time employees (Sec. 11). - Creates the Supplemental Assistance and Funding Account to help fund the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care program (Sec. 9). - Requires eligible employers to enroll at least half of their eligible employees in the program and to allow employees to pay health insurance premiums on a pretax basis (Sec. 11). - Establishes monthly premiums for individuals with a household income greater than 150 percent of the federal poverty level (Sec. 11). - Allows an individual to continue receiving coverage under the program even if employment is terminated so long as the individual continues to meet eligibility requirements and pays the required monthly premium (Sec. 11). - Allows enrollment in the program regardless of preexisting conditions (Sec. 11). - Creates the Continuing Access with Relief for Employers (CARE) Fund to provide grants to employers that already offer their employees health care coverage and have maintained that coverage for at least 12 consecutive months (Secs. 4 & 11). - Extends abatements for heath care providers under the Heath Care Provider Retention Program until 2017 and links eligibility for the abatements to participation in the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care and the Children's Health Insurance programs (Secs. 6 & 7). - Phases out the liabilities of the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCare) Fund gradually beginning in 2010 (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text