By Sen. Judy Ward (R-30)
When anyone is sick, hurt or needs help, we want to be sure high-quality, affordable health care is accessible to everyone.
My Senate Republican colleagues and I have been hard at work the past two years advancing and implementing commonsense health care policies that do that, benefitting all Pennsylvanians.
No one wants to experience a health emergency, but when it happens, you want to know an ambulance is on its way with trained emergency medical services (EMS) personnel on board. That’s why we approved a new law to increase reimbursement rates for EMS organizations, delivering more than $125 million in additional annual funding for our front-line health care professionals.
That new law also delivers additional funding to our hospitals, including $34.5 million in support for our rural hospitals. We also prioritized long-term care, providing $134 million to cover rate increases at nursing homes, with additional funding dedicated to providers who serve high-Medicaid populations.
Many nursing facilities have had trouble finding certified professionals to deliver medications to patients. I authored a law that will help nursing homes with staffing shortages by enabling certified nurse aids to train to become certified medication aids and deliver common, minimally invasive prescribed medications.
I also sponsored a new law that helps our senior citizens whether they are nursing home residents or living independently in their communities. Many elderly Pennsylvanians rely on our state’s two prescription assistance plans – PACE and PACENET – to pay for their medications. Eligibility for these plans is based in part on income guidelines. Sometimes Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) increasing seniors’ incomes can make those seniors ineligible for the programs; the law I authored prevents this from happening.
We can’t talk about health care without discussing the fentanyl crisis and other highly addictive drugs. One new state law we passed requires hospitals to test for fentanyl and xylazine when treating a person who is receiving a standard urine drug screening. The standard screening often fails to catch the presence of these deadly substances.
My colleagues and I also advanced a measure that would ensure known or suspected drug overdoses treated by EMS providers are recorded in a statewide tracking system. This kind of information is essential in the time-sensitive fight to prevent fentanyl and other deadly drugs from spreading through our communities.
Another new law we established increases access to licensed addiction treatment programs for Pennsylvanians. We’re also working on an innovative approach to create a Recovery to Work pilot program to connect individuals in recovery with high-priority occupations through local workforce development boards.
And we can’t forget Pennsylvania has a ground-breaking and life-saving new, first-in-the-nation breast cancer law. It helps women at high risk of developing breast cancer by eliminating out-of-pocket costs for genetic testing of hereditary cancer syndromes and supplemental breast cancer screenings. Early detection saves lives. This law ensures at-risk women have access to the tests they need.
Through a combined effort of providing more state dollars for targeted programs while also advancing new state laws to improve health care policies, we have been hard at work for Pennsylvania families.
This is just a sample of the new laws we’ve authored and other proposals we’re advancing to ensure commonwealth residents can access high-quality health care services at reasonable costs. We’ll continue working so Pennsylvanians can receive the medical treatment they deserve at a price they can afford.
Residents can follow Ward on Facebook at Facebook.com/SenJudyWard and X (Twitter) @SenatorJWard for news about legislation and the 30th Senate District. Contact information for her district offices and other information can be found on her website at SenatorJudyWard.com, and constituents also can sign up for her e-newsletter at SenatorJudyWard.com/enewsletters.
Ward contact: Nathan Akers
717-787-2421