The Inquirer has an unavoidably terse story about a budget deal that came out last night. This whole budget process has not, from my perspective, felt as tense as the last couple years, but maybe I'm further from it now than I have been in the past.

I can't help but find these parts of the new spending encouraging:

The budget includes a significant piece of Rendell's "Energy
Independence Strategy" - a $650 million energy development fund that
expands grants and loans to businesses that develop alternative and
renewable energy sources.

Pileggi said yesterday that about $180 million of that would go
toward rebates for solar panels and investments in solar energy, and
another $25 million would be used to build energy-efficient buildings,
or so-called green buildings.

The budget also includes $274 million in additional education
spending, the largest increase in two decades, $350 million to repair
about 400 structurally deficient bridges and $800 million for water and
sewer system upgrades during the next several years.

This weekend, papers across the state came out decisively against the Republicans so-called plan to provide more healthcare to people without insurance. The GOP was forced to come up with something after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would create Access to Basic Care, should the Senate concur. Access to Basic Care is the plan that passed the State House in March that would dramatically improve access to healthcare for those that don't have insurance and those that fear that the economic downturn my cut into or take away their coverage.

Though lots of Republican Reps voted for Access to Basic Care, the Senate GOP came out with their alternative plan that largely relies on the generosity of businesses with their money and doctors with their time to expand healthcare coverage and more primary care centers. The Republican alternative is, overall, silent on the question of what people will do if they need surgery, hospital diagnostics or other expensive treatments that primary care givers can't provide. The Senate leadership called its plan HealthNet PA.

In The Philadelphia Daily News, the Editorial board said that HealthNET PA was like:

...deciding that we're going to feed every hungry person in the state from donated canned goods, or clothe everyone in the state by establishing sewing circles. All deliver the same results: unnutritious, inconsistent fare, and, in the long run, a cure far worse than the disease.

The Allentown Morning Call's Editorial Board said:

The Republicans estimate they can help 159,000 Pennsylvanians with all of this, but we don't see how. ... It's a scattershot approach that seems more intended to appeal to a variety of interest groups rather than to fix a well-defined and undeniable problem...

Of the GOP's plan to expand financial support for community health centers, which provide primary care to the Uninsured, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said:

If you guys are curious about PUP, here's a little video an intern put together for us. This is the first part, which captures a clip from a rally we did to get a woman access to a hospital. It's the first of four parts.

Part 2 - Unemployment Compensation

Part 3 - Foreclosure Prevention

Part 4 - Workers' Campaigns

From "Homeowners offered relief in Philadelphia program" in today's Philadelphia Inquirer:

In theory, the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Pilot is supposed to work like this: Under court order, no house can be sent to a sheriff's sale without the owner-occupant's having an opportunity to have a court-sponsored conciliation session.
Before that session, the homeowner must take part in a free housing-counseling session to draw up a reasonable proposal to present to the mortgage company. If the counselor cannot work out a deal, then the borrower and advocates for the borrower and lender appear at a conciliation session before a temporary judge.
If it doesn't work, a full-time judge like Rizzo may get involved. Or, ultimately, the homes can move to sheriff's sale.

Also:

The Senate Republicans came out with an alternative health insurance plan yesterday. The intent of their plan is to a) not be left totally behind and b) stir up needless debate for the precise purpose of making sure nothing happens.

I'm going to publish the Pennsylvania Health Access Network Response in its entirety here, but you should also click "read more" to see an excerpt from what the Pennsylvania Medical Society released today as well (that's the biggest group of physicians).

Senate Republicans Unveil a Band-Aid
“We must care for people until we can figure out a solution.”

(Harrisburg, June 10, 2008) Plainly uncomfortable with their emerging role as the caucus that blocked affordable health insurance for 250,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians, Senate Republicans have at long last unveiled their non-solution to the problem of the uninsured.

The plan, as presented by senators Erickson, Corman, Donald White, and Wonderling at this morning’s press conference, is infused with humanitarian zeal. But its presentation also includes a note of pessimism.Dr. Zane Gates, a physician who serves as medical director of a free medical clinic in Altoona, articulated both sentiments: “We need 150 free clinics across Pennsylvania, which would serve 600,000 patients. We must find a way to care for people until we can figure out a solution to the health insurance problem” (emphasis added).

“Being uninsured is the 5th leading cause of death in America,” said Gates. “The incarcerated receive medical care, as I think they should. Why not also the working poor?”

The Senate plan would cobble together a patchwork of community health centers and free clinics to offer primary care to more uninsured Pennsylvanians. “Rather than open a pathway to the health system we have, their plan is to stitch together another one. But it would be filled with gaps and none of it would be available tomorrow. It would take time to put their new infrastructure in place,” said Tracy Lawless, Campaign Director for the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute of Pennsylvania.

“Consider for a moment what the House-passed plan has that this plan doesn’t have,” said Marc Stier, Health Campaign Manager for the Service Employees International Union. “Hospital coverage, prescription coverage, access to specialists, access to sophisticated diagnostic care. They propose spending nearly as much as the House plan but would have little to show for it.”

Jane Von Bergen has a really strong Inquirer piece this morning about health insurance competition in our state and how it plays out for some of the larger purchasers of insurance, What can happen if Blues compete. The part that will hit home the most for some of us is the story about the car dealership owner who plays the two off against each other for a better rate. That said, some of the stories about how the market opened up and how that played out for some of the region's big institutions also has a lot of food for thought in it.

Some advocates here are already organizing around opportunities presented by this merger. The "non-profit" Blues in the state are sitting on such an unbelievable amount of money in "reserves" that a massive earthquake could ravage the whole state and they'd probably still be able to cover the doctor bills. Then, of course, there is the question of who will keep The Big Blue honest if it controls the overwhelming majority of the insurance market.

Anyway, Philadelphians have a chance to weigh in on the proposed merger at the Philadelphia Sheraton on July 15th.

Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, a local physician, issued a statement yesterday alongside many other Doctors, Nan Feyler of the Nutter Administration and uninsured leaders, showing the support of progressive doctors in the National Physician's Alliance for major healthcare reform. “It’s not everyday that you see solidarity and hear a unified voice from doctors, patients, politicians and advocacy organizations, but SB 1137—a Bill poised to enact a new program of insurance for Pennsylvania’s uninsured—easily brings us together.”

Dr. Arkoosh explained that SB 1137 creates PA ABC “a solid insurance program including prescription drugs, preventive and wellness care, and chronic disease management” that will be “subsidized for adults with a family income of 200% of the federal poverty line, which today translates to $42,000 for a family of four.”

Dr. Arkoosh also explained how SB 1137 benefits doctors:

• It will extend the MCare abatement program-which subsidizes state provided malpractice insurance- for ten years.
• It will gradually give a full abatement of MCare premiums to physicians who have only received partial abatements previously.
• It phases out the MCare program after the ten-year period. And it provides a solution for the unfunded liability of the program that does not place the burden on doctors nor hospitals.
• It will reduce the amount of uncompensated care provided by physicians and hospitals today.

As of yesterday, about 50 doctors in the state had indicated their support by signing a letter supporting the version of SB 1137 passed by the house in March.

Meanwhile, Peter Lund, MD, President of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, issued a negative statement on Pennsylvania's proposed Access to Basic Care program.

What he said is after the jump...

Details are a little hard to piece together right now, but there's a protest happening tonight over an art show at the Art Institute. Art Students decided to put together a show featuring six artists on the theme of gun violence. Apparently, the President of the school decided to shroud one of the pieces, an installation by Steven Earl Weber, with a black curtain.

In an email I just received from David Kessler, another artist in the show, apparently the rest of the artists will shroud their work in the same way, to express their opposition to censorship.

I haven't found any photos of Weber's piece on-line, but you can see other examples of his work at the link above. Dealing with gun-violence is nothing new in his work.

Here's David Kessler's letter to the University president:

Dear Dr. Larkin,

I am one of the artists in the current Art Institute student curated exhibition ‘Killing Time’. I am writing to you to address your decision to censor fellow artist, Steven Earl Weber’s work from the show.

Sir, censorship of any sort is offensive and abhorrent and at an art school it is doubly so. The fact that artwork should be censored in an institution of higher learning in a major US city is disgusting and backwards.

I don't care if The New York Times is calling This American Life preciously hipster, maybe they are just jealous because Chicago Public Radio often accomplishes what The Grey Lady has failed to do most days: turn complex problems into a compelling narrative.

Today at the gym, I listened to this episode on how a global tidal wave of capital led to an excess of demand for mortgage backed securities which led to nonsense like No-Income-No-Asset loans and our present troubles. I love This American Life. A lot. To a point that I get a little crazy about it, but this may well be one of the best episodes I have ever listened to. I follow the sub-prime issue very closely, and I learned a lot from this episode. I also laughed several times.

In the present economic downturn, many states have decreased their spending, particularly in the area of public health. That's why it's gratifying to see City Council, the Department of Public Welfare and the General Assembly working together to bring more dollars into the state so we can actually improve care for the Uninsured and Medicaid eligible population in Philadelphia.

Quick Fact! Just because a person has Medical Assistance Health Coverage, that doesn't mean they can find a doctor! Most doctors around here refuse to accept Medical Assistance, that's why the Federally Qualified Health Centers and the City's Health Centers are so important.

Council took the first step yesterday to move a plan that will move millions more dollars into our hospitals and health centers. PUP is especially excited because the Department of Health believes that these new funds should enable them to bring wait times at City Health Centers down to less than 30 days and improve health care by implementing electronic records throughout all city facilities (including jails and youth centers).

More details in the jump!

If you're in trouble with your mortgage in Philadelphia, you need to call a housing counselor. In Philadelphia, you can call 215-334-HOME. A housing counselor can get you a better deal as you try to save your home. This is always true, but even moreso right now.

In Philadelphia, we have a Sheriff's Sale moratorium going on backed up by a court that refuses to kick homeowners out if lenders don't engage in a good faith effort to negotiate reasonable terms with the homeowner. Homeowners have to participate, though. They have to show up to court hearings and they have to engage in the process or they will still lose their home as quickly as they would have before.

Maybe it's just me, but websites that play sound when you visit them drive me insane. Sound is invasive. You want to opt in to sound. You know you are opting in to visuals when you travel the web, but not sound. It's one of the reasons that I find MySpace so annoying, because everyone has some R. Kelly song loaded up on their profile and the first thing I do when I land on anyone's page is switch it off.

It's even worse at Philly.com today.

If you go to Philly.com today, it will play some ad about the "top job postings." Now, for the thousands of people visiting the site but aren't looking for jobs, this is really off-putting. Worse, I couldn't see any way to turn it off. I couldn't even see which banner ad it was connected to.

This morning, I was leaving the gym and getting myself together and thinking about how it is looking more and more likely that Obama will be the Democratic nominee. As I've said before, he's not my guy but if he gets it I'll volunteer some voter i.d. time for the guy in the Fall. You bet! Anyway, I'm getting dressed and folding up my gym clothes and I started looking down the road and it occurred to me that it could be pretty dangerous to be the first black President of the United States.

It was one of those ah-ha moments, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt absolutely sure that there are people in this country who will be pushed around the bend if Obama gets sworn in come January. That's definitely not to say he shouldn't do it, but I'm sure his family is worried about him.

Well, it turns out that I forgot to pack a belt today, and I really needed one. So, as I was having these thoughts, I also decided to stop by the Gap Outlet to grab one on clearance. After locking up my bike outside the store on Chestnut, I turned around and I saw the two wheat pastings posted above. The big one you will recognize. The smaller one, atop it, you probably won't [Click on the image for a close-up of the smaller wheat pasting].

Now, I'm not 100% sure what to make of it, to be honest. I've been in this whole liberal business long enough to have seen anti-racist posters/pastings/fliers designed to provoke conversation/thought in such a way that they almost seemed racist. Since I can't figure out what the heck the propagandist here means by "...next," I'm sort of scratching my head on this one.

I only say that as a cautionary comment, though. I'm 90% sure I understand the message of this wheatpasting (not Obama's -- though I get that too, I'm writing about the one on top of it). It always stuns me when I see openly racist graffiti or other sorts of vandalism.

On May 5th, Governor Rendell's budget office released a new analysis of the plan to pay for Access to Basic Care [ABC], a comprehensive plan to provide health insurance to thousands of Pennsylvanians that have been going without it.

In short, the plan to pay for ABC is sound.

This analysis answers the argument from critics that the bill does not have adequate funding. We do. Now all we need is the political will to get this done.
The uninsured do not have powerful Harrisburg lobbyists to represent them. They are hard-working individuals who are trying to make ends meet and worrying about how they are going to afford to see a doctor if they get sick. It’s time we do something for them to make their lives a little easier. That’s what public service is supposed to be about.

From Budget Secretary Michael Masch:

Insur-Animals #1

This is kind of awesome. Pass Prescription for Pennsylvania (and Access to Basic Care). Health Insurance companies are evil.

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