PRINTER'S NO. 4852
No. 901 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY ROHRER, BARRAR, BIRMELIN, CLYMER, DENLINGER,
GODSHALL, HARHART, HERSHEY, HUTCHINSON, KAUFFMAN, LEH,
METCALFE, MUSTIO, PHILLIPS, RAPP, SAYLOR, SEMMEL, STEIL,
STERN AND WILT, OCTOBER 20, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, OCTOBER 20, 2006
A RESOLUTION
1 Directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study
2 the impact of entitlement expansion in the Children's Health
3 Insurance Program on the private sector insurance market in
4 Pennsylvania.
5 WHEREAS, Financial costs of providing entitlement programs
6 such as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to
7 Pennsylvanians have escalated as a cost to the General Fund; and
8 WHEREAS, There are a number of children now eligible for CHIP
9 under existing criteria who are not enrolled, despite
10 significant public awareness programs conducted by the Insurance
11 Department; and
12 WHEREAS, National studies suggest that expansion of an
13 entitlement health program has had an effect on private sector
14 insurance so as to "crowd out" private sector coverage and
15 create an additional population of uninsured persons; and
16 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's experience with adultBasic insurance
17 coverage funded by Tobacco Settlement money and the "crowd-out"
18 effect have not been studied by an independent entity, although
1 there has been a significant number of applicants forced onto a
2 waiting list even in a time of economic recovery when numbers of
3 uninsured persons might be expected to decrease; and
4 WHEREAS, If Tobacco Settlement money declines while demand
5 for adultBasic continues and CHIP expenditures increase because
6 of expanded eligibility, there will be long-term strains on the
7 General Fund from constituencies demanding that tax dollars be
8 redirected to pay for both adultBasic and the expanded CHIP;
9 therefore be it
10 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the
11 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to analyze the
12 potential impact of an expansion of CHIP on private sector
13 insurance programs, including:
14 (1) Review of national academic and congressional
15 studies regarding the "crowd-out" phenomenon of expansion of
16 CHIP/SCHIP entitlement programs.
17 (2) Examination of the adultBasic program for adult
18 uninsured persons to ascertain the extent of "crowd-out" for
19 that program.
20 (3) Identification of other states that have enacted
21 similar expansions of CHIP and review analyses that may have
22 been conducted for those entitlement expansions.
23 (4) Identification of innovative marketing programs in
24 other states designed to reach out to enroll CHIP-eligible
25 children.
26 (5) Report of findings to the chairman and minority
27 chairman of the Insurance Committee, chairman and minority
28 chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee and
29 chairman and minority chairman of the Children and Youth
30 Committee within nine months after the adoption of this
20060H0901R4852 - 2 -
1 resolution.
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