The Pennsylvania House Insurance Committee has scheduled a May 27 public hearing in Harrisburg, Pa., to explore what the federal health reform law means for the state.

Tony DeLuca

Rep. Tony DeLuca (D-Allegheny), chairman of the committee, told IFAwebnews.com April 20 that the day-long meeting is intended to help educate members of his committee on the various aspects of the health reform law signed by President Barack Obama last month.

“We don’t know everything,” DeLuca said. “I don’t think anyone knows everything, but we need to call stakeholders in to educate us so we can make intelligent decisions at the state level.”

DeLuca said the 10 a.m. public hearing will include testimony from a wide range of interested parties, including insurance agents, carrier representatives and industry associations, as well as people who may be affected by the law or have concerns about its implementation in Pennsylvania.

Additional meetings in other parts of the state to address concerns raised by health reform are anticipated, according to DeLuca. However, no additional dates and locations have been set yet.

“We need to address this [health reform] stuff,” DeLuca said. “We want to be prepared and we need to be prepared for it.”

DeLuca’s staff suggested that the May meeting will deal with the most pressing concerns brought on by the reform law, while later meetings will address long-term implications.

Dependent age, mandates top concerns

One of the most immediate concerns for Pennsylvania legislators, beyond the additional expenses brought on by reform, could be the age at which dependents can continue on parent’s coverage. Pennsylvania has raised that age to 29, while the federal reform law sets it at 26.

Other issues involve the federal mandate requiring rules for handling medical loss ratios and the establishment of a high-risk health insurance pool.

Pennsylvania is among 19 states that don’t have existing high-risk pools, although a bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike Fulmer (R-Lebanon), is nearing a final Senate vote. The bill appears to have the support of House Democrats, said DeLuca, meaning its passage is likely. The bill establishes a high-risk health insurance pool to be run by a nonprofit association and overseen by an independent board of directors. The self-sustaining operation cannot use public funds to pay for premiums.

DeLuca, a House member since 1983, said he believed the reform law “would have been a better piece of legislation if they [Congress] had worked together bipartisanly.”

He also noted that while his committee and the Democrat-led House in Pennsylvania can pass measures to improve insurance in the state, its work is only useful if the Republican-led Senate acts on the legislation.

“We have sent a lot of useful stuff over to the Senate, but we can’t control everything,” DeLuca said. In the last two years, expansion of the adultBasic program and other insurance measures have stalled in the Senate, where its Republican members have battled Gov. Ed Rendell and House leaders, including DeLuca.

DeLuca made his comments while meeting with a handful of members of the Pennsylvania Association of Health Underwriters during the organization’s annual Day on the Hill. Nearly 75 agents and brokers from across the state held meetings with members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate or their staff members.