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Motion expressing the sense of Council of Allegheny County, urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Governor to consider the citizen proposed “Pennsylvania Balanced and Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act of 2005” as a starting point for health care reform in Pennsylvania.
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WHEREAS, over 46 million Americans currently lack health insurance; and
WHEREAS, a summary recently released by the Pennsylvania State Data Center shows that 1.2 million Pennsylvanians, including 200,566 children, were without health care coverage in 2000, the seventh highest such figure in the nation; and
WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania State Data Center summary also estimates that 95,000 residents of Allegheny County do not have health insurance, a figure which corresponds to 7.6% of the County's population; and
WHEREAS, although the lack of health insurance is as pervasive as ever, the health care industry is now the largest economic sector in Southwestern Pennsylvania, employing more than one in eight workers and conducting over $7.2 million in business; and
WHEREAS, the region's largest health care insurance provider, Highmark, Inc., reported a net profit of $310.5 million in 2004, a figure which increases Highmark's surplus to $2.5 billion; and
WHEREAS, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the West Penn Allegheny Health System, the second and third largest health insurance providers in the region, also reported gains for 2004;
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, AND IT IS THE SENSE OF THE COUNCIL OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, that this Body endorses the position of the Pennsylvania Health Care Solutions Coalition, gives its support to the “Pennsylvania Balanced and Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act of 2005,” which the Coalition intends to introduce to the Pennsylvania General Assembly to help with the growing health care crisis and its detrimental effect on our citizens and economy, and urges the Governor and General Assembly to consider this l...
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