Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has done a few surprising things, for a Republican governor, as he's tried to reverse his wild unpopularity. He's accepted a form of Medicaid expansion. He's decided not to appeal a marriage equality ruling. And he's blocked food stamp cuts. So why isn't he trying to extend a reproductive health program that provides 90,000 low-income women with birth control, STD treatment, and Pap smears?
The program, called SelectPlan for Women, is essentially an experiment in putting Medicaid dollars toward women of reproductive age, hoping that preventing their unplanned pregnancies will ultimately lower health costs. [...]
Since 2007, Pennsylvania has had a special waiver from the federal government to operate SelectPlan. But the waiver expires at the end of this year, and it’s not clear whether Gov. Tom Corbett (R) plans on applying for an extension. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, women’s health groups in the state have been told to prepare for SelectPlan’s termination.
The state could prevent the women from losing their SelectPlan care by either automatically enrolling them in HealthyPA, the state's privatized Medicaid expansion, or by seeking to extend the SelectPlan waiver. It's not surprising that a Republican governor would refuse to do either of these things, but, as noted above, Corbett has shown a willingness to take such actions as he's tried to improve his chances for re-election.
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The good news is, Democrat Tom Wolf is highly likely to be elected on Tuesday. The bad news is, he won't be able to take action on SelectPlan until women's reproductive health care has already lapsed. Corbett needs to take care of this.