The House has been debating the future of the state’s Adult Basic program, which was put in place in 2001 to help those who can’t purchase individual insurance, earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and are too young to go on Medicare. Today, almost 41,000 Pennsylvanians pay a small amount monthly to be on the Adult Basic insurance program. More than 384,000 are on the waiting list. Now the entire program is under threat and may shut down at the end of the year. Kelly Amos of Williamsport gave the following testimony to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on May 4, 2010:

My name is Kelly Amos, and I live in Williamsport, PA, born and raised there. My husband and I have 2 children, ages 8 and 4, and I have an older son who is 19 and putting himself through college. I’m here today on behalf of our family, to urge you to continue to fund the Adult Basic program. Until September 2007, our family always had health insurance through my husband’s employer. He always worked hard all his life, doing heavy physical work. In June 2007, he had severe back pain and was diagnosed with two herniated disks. He was told he was disabled and could no longer work. But our family depended on him, and he didn’t want to lose the kids’ health insurance, so he kept working until finally he had to stop. Our family was left with no health insurance. I found a job for myself, one that came with benefits, and I thought our problems were solved. But then I did the math and figured out that health insurance for our family was going to cost 51% of my salary, and we wouldn’t be able to pay for anything else. We got the kids onto CHIP, applied for Adult Basic for my husband, and I got insurance through work for myself. Then I was laid off too and had to apply for Adult Basic. We started this process in February 2008 and have been on the waiting list ever since. Now I’m working part-time and have gone back to college, hoping the additional training will help me get a better job with better benefits. But even with a job, I ’m not sure I’ll be able to make enough to pay insurance premiums for the whole family. My oldest son, now too old for CHIP, pays about $600 a month out of his student loan money just for his own health insurance. What will private insurance cost my whole family? I always hear people say, “Get a job!” But I got a job, and it didn’t pay enough for me to be able to insure my family. So Adult Basic is my family’s only hope right now. Please make sure that the program is going to still be there for my family.

The Adult Basic health insurance program was launched in 2001 as part of the allocation of funds from Pennsylvania’s share of the Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies. The program was designed to cover the basic health care needs of Pennsylvanians aged 19-64 who have no health insurance and who meet certain eligibility requirements. Tobacco Settlement funds initially provided for total Adult Basic funding of $159.8 million. In 2005, an agreement was reached with the Commonwealth’s four nonprofit Blue Cross providers to contribute funds allowing Adult Basic to enroll additional individuals through what is known as the Community Health Reinvestment (CHR) Plan. By 2009-10, state Tobacco Settlement funding for Adult Basic had been reduced to $38 million, with the Blues’ CHR funds providing $125 million. The Community Health Reinvestment agreements are due to expire in December 2010, and without additional funding, Adult Basic will end. Pending legislation, HB 2455, would obligate the Blues to continue the CHR agreements in order to secure the future of the Adult Basic program at zero cost to the state budget. The new federal health care law will help many of these people, but not until 2014. In the meantime, please urge your state legislator to support HB 2455.