A judge has now ruled to restore the money for the program that will help to provide coverage.
A new court ruling regarding funding for health insurance is now being reviewed by the Corbett administration in order to consider the way that money will be provided to a special coverage program.
The ruling stated that a previous state law in Pennsylvania would be overturned so cash flow can be redirected.
The judge has ruled that the law be overturned so that tobacco settlement funds can now be steered back toward a program that would assist Pennsylvania residents with low incomes to be able to obtain health insurance. The law that was overturned had been redirecting that money away from the coverage assistance program.
Though the health insurance program is now defunct, the hope is that this effort will resurrect it.
The supporters of the health insurance program, which is called AdultBasic, are calling this an important victory. However, a spokesperson for the Corbett administration has said that the ruling is still under review in order to determine its implications on a legal and policy level.
The judge from the Commonwealth Court ruled that two state laws that had been passed in 2010 and 2011 were deemed to be unconstitutional. Those two laws were drawing money from tobacco settlements away from the health insurance program. This took funds directly away from the effort to provide coverage to the lowest income groups in the state.
At the same time, though, the judge did not issue an order that the AdultBasid health insurance coverage program be reinstated. The decision said only that the two laws that cut off its funding should be eliminated.
The judge directed that within the upcoming fiscal year, there will be a requirement for the Commonwealth to direct “30 percent of tobacco settlement funds, if any, to a health investment insurance plan (AdultBasic or another similar plan).” Furthermore, the judge also stated that the funds must also go to Medicaid coverage for workers who are disabled “unless there are contrary statutory enactments appropriating the funds otherwise.” The Corbett administration has yet to determine exactly how those funds will be allocated.
