Pennsylvania Health Insurance Program for Low-Income Adults May Begin Waiting List
AdultBasic, a new low-cost health insurance program for low-income workers and unemployed residents in Pennsylvania, may have to begin a waiting list in early 2003, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The program received $76 million from the state's share of the tobacco settlement for the first year -- which runs from July 2002 to July 2003 -- to provide health coverage for between 40,000 and 48,000 residents. The program, which requires participants to pay a $30 monthly premium, covers hospital, emergency room and physician visits for Pennsylvania residents ages 19 to 64 with annual incomes less than $17,720 for an individual and less than $36,200 for a family of four (Von Bergen, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/26). Participants in adultBasic pay copayments of $5 for physician visits, $10 for specialist visits and $25 for ER visits. The state has contracted with Keystone Health Plan East in greater Philadelphia; Capital Blue Cross/Pennsylvania Blue Shield in Central Pennsylvania; Highmark/Western Caring Foundation in Western Pennsylvania; and First Priority Health in Northeast Pennsylvania to administer the program (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/25). More than 37,000 state residents have enrolled in adultBasic; about 300,000 qualify for the program, state Deputy Insurance Commissioner Patricia Stromberg said. After enrollment in adultBasic reaches capacity, the state will allow low-income residents on a waiting list to purchase the same health coverage provided under the program for $210.67 per month, the Inquirer reports. Stromberg said that "the doors are not closed. We still want people to apply" for adultBasic, adding that "this is a need for the community at large" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/26).
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