PathWays PA Policy Blog

Last week, it seemed as though the Senate Healthcare Bill was stopped in it's entirety. The Bill did not have enough votes to pass and Sen. McConnell's attempts to pass a repeal-only Bill forward were shut down, so it seemed as though the Affordable Care Act was safe for the time being. However, we are now hearing that there is a possibility of the Bill being revived and voted on once again this week. A CBO analysis showed the statistics behind the revised Senate Healthcare Bill - 22 million Americans would be kicked off of their insurance should it pass. This number was found before taking into account the "Cruz Amendment" which would allow insurance companies to offer less comprehensive insurance. Both repealing and replacing the ACA in this form (causing 22 million Americans to lose coverage) or repealing without replacing  (causing 32 million Americans to lose coverage), are unacceptable options.  Take advantage of this opportunity to call your senators at 866...

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee (Labor-HHS-ED) passed a spending bill for the 2018 fiscal year (FY18) that provide important funding for youth homelessness programs. The bill has positives and negatives which will effect important programs that impact youth and young adults experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Some of the details of this legislation are as follows: Maintain $119 million for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs; Maintains $77 million for Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act grants; Makes cuts to important workforce development funding including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Adult and Youth formula funding streams by about 5%, Reintegration of Ex-Offender Grants by 7% and SCSEP by 25%; Completely eliminates  the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program, currently funded at $101 million, and Title X Family Planning Program, currently funded at $2...

Update 1:13 PM EST - Three Republican senators have already stated they will not support any outright repeal of the ACA without a replacement in place, making it unlikely that repeal will happen anytime soon. Last night, the latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act appeared to collapse when two Republican senators joined the ranks of those unable to vote yes on the bill. There are not enough votes to pass the bill, or even bring it up for debate. So what comes next? Senator Mitch McConnell has now called for a vote to repeal the ACA without replacing it. According to the Senator, the repeal would not actually take effect for two years . A look at ACA repeal by the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in January 2017 found that repeal legislation, by 2026, would: lead to 32 million people losing coverage double insurance premiums leave 75% of Americans without access to the individual market You can read an article from FiveThirtyEight.com here t...

The Department of Labor Women's Bureau will be hosting a webinar focused on Promising Employer Practices for Recruiting and Retaining Women in Construction next Wednesday (July 19th, 2017) at 2:00pm. Despite public and private efforts to increase the share of women in construction trades, women remain significantly underrepresented. As of a 2016 study, women make up only 3% of workers in construction and extraction occupations. Increasing the participation of women in high-wage, high-skill nontraditional fields such as construction are incredibly important to their economic security. This webinar hosted by the Women's Bureau will include a peer learning forum featuring advice from experienced contractors who have been successful in recruiting and retaining women in construction fields. Featured panelists will offer practical advice and applied learning to showcase promising approaches for recruiting and retaining women on job sites. The panelists who will be featured in t...

***Watch this space for updates as we learn more*** Senators today unveiled changes to the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA), and information is drabbling out to the public (and to most senators). Here's what we've heard - we will update below as we learn more : The revised bill will add $70 billion in additional money to states to make health care more affordable. As in previous versions, Medicaid will move to a block grant system. However, during public health emergencies, spending will not count towards Medicaid caps. These cuts could mean 15 million fewer people would be insured by Medicaid in 2026. Insurers will have the option to offer plans that do not meet ACA standards as long as at least one of their offerings meets "sufficient minimum coverage" under the ACA. People who enroll in catastrophic health insurance will be able to use subsidies to pay for those plans. $45 billion will be added to combat opiod addiction. Updated 7/13 3:25 PM - T...

Updated 7/12/17: This bill passed the House and may be voted on the Senate this week. Please contact your senators! Word is going out this morning that PA House Bill 59 , which would add new requirements to the state Medicaid program, may be headed towards a vote today. According to our friends at PHAN , this bill would: impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients lock-in managed care plans (making it hard for people to change plans to find the care they need) open the door to higher costs and premiums Medicaid exists to ensure individuals and families who can't afford insurance don't go without healthcare. Many of the people I know who use Medicaid do so because of serious health conditions such as cancer or congenital diseases .   The Atlantic points out that   " most people on Medicaid who can work do, and low-income people working demanding jobs often do so 'until their bodies gave out on them.'"  In fact, the article goes on to say ...

On Monday, July 17th 2017, Community Legal Services will be hosting a workshop to help you learn what your rights are as a tenant. If you have any questions about the topic, from when you should get your security deposit back to whether or not you can legally be evicted. Come out to learn the law and learn your rights! The workshop will be located at 1410 W. Erie Avenue in Philadelphia at 6:00 pm.

With thanks to our friends at PCCY As we have previously mentioned on this blog, the Senate has recently released their upcoming Health Care Bill. The bill was not voted on, but the details are now available to the public. The Senate is currently in recess for this week which makes this an ideal time to be vocal about the effect the bill will have. Whether it is to family, friends, the public or directly to your legislators, this is a great opportunity to educate and inform about the implications of the bill. The Senate bill currently retains caps on Medicaid which would harm millions of children, seniors and individuals who are disabled. Below are ways that you can continue to be active around the Senate Health Care Bill, including daily actions you can do and upcoming events you participate in. Things you can do every day this week: Call Senator Casey and Senator Toomey and ask them to reject the Senate bill. Tell them how it would affect your child and/or cause millions of A...