Funds for Adult Basic Continue to be Diverted

An appellate judge will not stop the Corbett Administration from using money that in the past has helped pay for the adultBasic health care coverage. Commonwealth Court Senior Judge James Kelly denied a motion to order the State Treasurer to hold onto the state's annual deposit of money from the 1998 settlement with the tobacco companies.

The lawsuit filed last month alleges that 30% of the tobacco settlement money was to be set aside for adultBasic and Medicare, but it was unlawfully diverted to other purposes. The case lists 75 plaintiffs who were covered by adultBasic until the governor allowed the program to end on February 28th. The overall lawsuit is still pending and asks the court to force the governor to restore the health insurance plan.