Committee Approves Hazardous Site
Cleanup Bill
Proposal to extend MCARE
program also advances
Committee approvals of bills to fund hazardous site
cleanup efforts and to extend a program that
helps doctors afford their medical malpractice insurance
premiums highlighted Senate action during
the week of October 22nd, according to Senator Bob
Regola (R-39).
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy
Committee approved Senate Bill 1100, providing
a new funding stream for Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA)
projects from existing state revenues.
“Legislative wrangling over the funding for hazardous
sites cleanup was one of the issues that held
up the budget this year and has been unresolved,” said
Sen. Regola. “While I support the efforts
to clean up the environment, I could not support paying
for this through new taxes or fees.
This bill avoids that and instead taps existing state
revenues to support those projects.”
On Wednesday, the Senate Banking and Insurance
Committee approved Senate Bill 1137,
a measure that would extend the authorization of the
MCARE (Medical Care Availability and
Reduction of Error) program for one year, while preparing for its eventual
elimination.
Changes in the marketplace and the success of a reform
package passed by the Legislature and
enacted by Governor Mark Schweiker in 2002 means
Pennsylvania will likely be able to phase
out the program in the foreseeable future, according to
Senator Regola.
The five-year-old program helps physicians pay a portion
of their medical malpractice insurance
premiums. The fund helps pay toward the cost of the
$500,000 in MCARE fund coverage that the
state requires each doctor to secure, in addition to the
$500,000 in primary coverage from
the private marketplace.
SB 1137 allows the state Insurance Commissioner to more
gradually shift health care providers
from publicly funded to privately-purchased medical malpractice insurance
coverage.
SB 1100 and SB 1137 now go to the full Senate for
further consideration.
###
Contact: Nathan Silcox (717) 787-6063
