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News Regional & State News Fewer than half former adultBasic enrollees have signed up for alternative insurance
Tuesday, 06 September 2011 17:22

Fewer than half former adultBasic enrollees have signed up for alternative insurance

Written by  Mary Wilson

(Harrisburg) -- Six months have passed since the state ended its adultBasic health insurance program for low-income Pennsylvanians. Fewer than half of the enrollees have signed up for alternative insurance options. In the final hours of adultBasic’s funding, enrollees were encouraged to apply for Medicaid, or change their coverage to a product subsidized by Pennsylvania’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. So far, just 38 percent of the enrollees who were with adultBasic to the end landed with either of those products. And one of them, Jerry Kaufman, a self-employed trash collector, says he hasn’t been happy with his Special Care insurance, which limits him to four doctors’ visits a year. "So, I’m limited to, even if I’m not feeling good, to try and not to go to the doctor, because I have prostate cancer, and I’m trying to use just those four office visits a year to my urologist, which I have to go every three months to be monitored," he says. Kaufman says he’s also upset about the higher premium under adultBasic, he paid $36 a month. He now pays $162 a month for his Special Care coverage. The Blues are involved in negotiations with the state Insurance Department to raise that rate by about five percent. A Highmark/Blue Shield spokesman says the real driver of rate increases is rising health care costs across the board.

comments  

 
# At A Loss 2011-09-07 11:07
$162? We'd be thrilled to pay that amount. We were on the waiting list at a rate of $630/mo!
There is NO insurance available to us. The medicaid dept stonewalled us to the point of giving up, yes, for a TypeI Diabetic. Its all out of pocket now depleting all assets and savings. Tryng to get any other aid is a joke too, discount RX cards, the Montel Bus, the pharm co's all just fronts for PR, no real offerings.
With only 30 days notice that coverage was ending, few choices, and limited coverages anyway (no rx's), our family just hoped something real would be offered -- 6 months later > Nothing.
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# Art Social Inquiry 2011-09-08 12:30
@at a loss: 6 mos. after adultBasic was terminated and the stories are starting to come out. I tell these stories and other healthcare stories through my art project, Art As Social Inquiry. Please check out the project. I would be interested in your story. My email is t@artassocialin quiry.org
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# Bev 2011-09-08 02:23
These people in Harrisburg don't care about the taxpayers of this state. All they are interested in is which big company they should start kissing their ass for campaign contributions for their next election. corbett doesn't know the meaning of the word health and he cares about the same, the bit companies and how much money they can give toxic tom for his next election. This guy needs to b run out of office for what he did to 42,000 people of this state. I also believe ALL politicians should start paying for their own health ins. The full premium just like we have to, and corporate top should be billed for his back surgery that he just had. Let him pay for it himself.
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