CHIP May Live On

Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) might survive past its December 2010 expiration date thanks to a bill from State Representative Tony DeLuca.

The Allegheny County Democrat’s legislation would rid the program of a “sunset date,” meaning CHIP would be free to continue indefinitely.

The program provides health insurance for 197,150 children whose parents couldn’t afford it otherwise.

DeLuca says 68 cents of every CHIP dollar comes from the federal government. He says it would be unwise to let that federal income go.

DeLuca says the bill will probably be passed soon. Right now, it’s before the full House for consideration.

DeLuca Plans Hearing on Highmark's Possible Outsourcing of Jobs

State Rep. Tony DeLuca, a Democrat from Allegheny County and chairman of the House Insurance Committee is planning on holding a meeting in Allegheny County in the next couple weeks on the possible outsourcing of jobs by Highmark, Inc.

Highmark, one of the state's largest health insurance companies has about 11,000 employees and is one of the largest employers in Allegheny County. DeLuca plans on inviting Highmark CEO's, union representatives and consumers to the hearing.

Highmark spokesperson Michael Weinstein said outsourcing is just one of many possibilities the company is looking into to cut administrative costs.

DeLuca Wants Review of Healthcare Mailer

The political advocacy and trade origination, America’s Health Insurance Plans, has sent out thousands of advertisements warning seniors that their Medicare Advantage Benefits will be drastically cut under health care reforms being pushed by the White House. Some of the mailers went to seniors in Pennsylvania. State Representative Tony Deluca of Verona says the ads were misleading and served only to confuse the recipients. He has asked the PA Insurance Commissioner to look into the mailer and to see if any of the health insurance providers licensed in PA used dollars collected from premiums to help mail out the literature. Deluca called the material “bogus” and he wonders if it violates state policy. DeLuca says he does not think this rises to the level of criminality so he has not contacted the Attorney General but he feels the Insurance Commissioner has the power to investigate and should take the mater into consideration when reviewing future rate increase requests from member companies.

Landslide Insurance Bill

A state representative from Allegheny County is sponsoring a bill that would give home owners the opportunity to buy landslide insurance. Tony DeLuca, who represents Blawnox, Plum and Penn Hills, says at least three homeowners in Penn Hills have lost their possessions and their homes due to landslides. He says the money to fund an insurance program would come from the mine subsidence program, which has a $69 million surplus. DeLuca says they would borrow $5 million from those funds for a start up plan, and would be similar to the mine subsidence insurance program, with reasonable premiums due each month.

DeLuca: Tax My Campaign Ads

Allegheny County Democrat Tony DeLuca wants politicians to tax themselves. The State Representative wants to eliminate political advertising's tax-exempt status and put a six-percent levy on ads. He would use the revenue to expand Pennsylvania's adultBasic health insurance program. DeLuca says it means lawmakers would essentially be taxing their own campaigns, and acknowledges it's likely a tough sell, but insists the measure makes sense. Opponents say the proposal amounts to a tax on free speech, but DeLuca disagrees. He argues a six-percent tax is not enough to stop any politician from raising money or buying ad time. The House Finance Committee is considering the measure.

Bill Helps Small Businesses

State Representative Tony DeLuca is reintroducing a bill that will aid small businesses and full-time college students up to age 30 in having stabilized health insurance rates. DeLuca says everyone deserves to have health care coverage, and passing this bill would make it more affordable because small business owners will pay a smaller fee for covering employees’ health insurance plans, no matter what age they are. He says it’s not fair for new businesses to get better rates on younger employees than older businesses that are burdened with higher rates.

Deluca looks to cap State Rep.'s income

State Representative Tony Deluca has introduced a measure to amend the Pennsylvania state constitution to limit the amount of money a state lawmaker can earn outside of his or her state salary. The measure caps earned income at 20-thousand dollars a year on top of the 76-thousand dollar pay for a state representative. He says being a state rep. is a full time job and if a member of the house is working outside of the office they will be neglecting some aspect of their duties. He says it will also help to eliminate any conflicts of interest. He says people running businesses, practicing as lawyers or engaged in some other job, tend to vote for measures that help that profession. Deluca says the 20-thousand dollar cap is high enough to keep people from complaining that they can not make enough to run for the position while at the same time it is low enough that it will not take away too much of the lawmaker’s time.