Open Letter to Presidential Candidates on State Health C...( Experts available for comment ...),Health

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PHILADELPHIA, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The undersigned organizations from around the state are releasing the attached letter on Thursday, calling on the major Democratic candidates campaigning here now to draw attention to Pennsylvania's efforts to reform healthcare access and lower costs in SB 1137, HB 2098 and HB 2005.

An Open Letter

April 10, 2008

Dear Senator Clinton and Senator Obama:

Healthcare has been central to each of your campaigns. As you work here in advance of the April 22nd primary, we wanted to alert you that healthcare is the number one opportunity we have to improve the lives of working Pennsylvanians right now. We, the undersigned, believe your campaigns could advance the cause of Pennsylvania's reforms, should you choose to make them an issue.

Early last year, Governor Rendell unveiled an ambitious package of reforms known as The Prescription for Pennsylvania (Rx4PA, http://www.rxforpa.com). Rx4PA would expand access to health insurance with a high quality healthcare plan. With revisions from the House Democrats, that plan is now known as "Access to Basic Care," and it passed the House this month in Senate Bill 1137.

Rx4PA would also rein in the forces that have driven up the price of insurance in the small group market, reward employers already providing coverage and insure that no one with a pre-existing condition is denied coverage. These also passed the House of Representatives in House Bill 2098 and House Bill 2005.

If these reforms succeed in the Commonwealth, it will make the arguments for either of your national plans much stronger. Rx4PA's success should also galvanize your allies in Washington while chastening your opponents. In this way, the states really are the proving ground for great changes that Washington can adopt later. It will take state action first to beg
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