Pennsylvania Health-Care Freedom on Life Support

Pennsylvania’s health care freedom is in a free fall. The Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University’s new report, Health Freedom: A 50-State Freedom Index of Health and Health Care, indicated Pennsylvania has dropped 12 spots since 2020, from 31st to 43rd. Ohio, West Virginia, and Delaware rank higher than Pennsylvania, although not by much.

Of the five categories in the index, Pennsylvania performs worst in two: professional freedom and patient freedom. Essentially, the government has made it even more difficult for both health-care providers and you to work together.

Pennsylvania’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, Pennie, is a case study in how government intervention in health care failed—and continues to fail.

Under Pennie, the government still controls most aspects, including what insurers can provide, how much rates can rise year after year, and who qualifies for subsidized coverage. Health-insurance companies and various health-service providers are private entities that operate within the government-constructed market.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal lawmakers enacted enhanced premium tax credits, better classified as subsidies, to address rising premium costs. These subsidies distort prices by making premiums seem lower. Meanwhile, the government quietly covers the rising costs with your tax dollars. Health care remains unaffordable because the government is trying to control every aspect of the system.

On September 8, Pennsylvania House Rep. Greg Scott introduced House Bill 2763, which would complete the government’s takeover of Pennsylvania’s health-care system. The proposed legislation would take health-care decisions out of your and your doctor’s hands by abolishing the private health-insurance system and replacing it with a government-run, single-payer program.

Under the proposed government system, bureaucrats would be making decisions at every level, from hospital budgets to drug prices to health-care data and more. Nothing would be left for you or your doctor to decide about your own health.

Like every single-payer system that has ever existed, this would certainly lead to longer wait times, denial of certain care, and lower overall health-care quality. This would further reduce Pennsylvania’s health freedom across the board.

Pennsylvanian lawmakers in Harrisburg must not only oppose this attempt at health care socialism but also propose policy reforms that expand your freedom. To restore choice and competition, lawmakers should:

• Allow renewable short-term insurance plans.
• Allow out-of-state insurers to issue health insurance in Pennsylvania.
• Grant full-practice authority to nurse practitioners.
• Protect direct primary care arrangements.
• Enforce existing hospital-price transparency.
• Reform medical education requirements for health-care workers entering the workforce.

To learn more, review some of the Commonwealth Foundation’s recent research and commentary on a free-market approach to health care:

• Personal Option Needed
• Obamacare Did Not Lower Costs. It Is Time for a Better Approach
• The Personal Option for Health Care in Pennsylvania