Pa. Medicaid could change without Gov. Corbett

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett has won approval for elements of a federally funded health care expansion his administration spent more than a year developing, but he is facing an uphill battle for a second term and some parts of the plan may not survive if Democrat Tom Wolf beats him in November’s election.

After approval Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Corbett administration is now tasked with setting up a system for more than a half-million more low-income Pennsylvanians to get federally funded health insurance through a private insurer.

The system it creates will be distinct from the existing managed-care system that serves many of Pennsylvania’s 2.2 million Medicaid enrollees through private insurers. The insurance plans under the new system will be different, and insurers that participate can impose premiums on enrollees who earn above the poverty level, about $11,670 a year for a single, childless adult.

But advocates for the poor said today that certain elements are punitive or complex — even though federal officials rejected the Republican governor’s bid to undo some Medicaid rules to give private insurers more control over coverage and enrollment. And Wolf, who supported an expansion of Medicaid, is not saying whether he would keep Corbett’s plan.