Lt. Gov. Davis urges continued relief of health care costs during Uniontown stop
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis speaks to United Mine Workers and supporters Friday morning prior to an event in Uniontown where he discussed health care costs as part of the Protect Our Care Bus Tour. (Photo by Mark Hofmann)
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis speaks about health care costs during a stop in Uniontown on Friday. He was joined by health care advocate Laura Packard (left) and Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites (right). (Photo by Mark Hofmann)
During a stop in Uniontown Friday to discuss health care costs, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said about 11% of all Pennsylvanians have medical debt that’s already made it into collections.
In Fayette and Greene counties, those numbers are higher — 15% and 20% respectively.
“That’s unacceptable,” Davis said. “We must continue to do everything we can to drive down the cost of health care and prescription drugs, as President Biden is doing in D.C. with the Inflation Reduction Act, and as the (Gov. Josh) Shapiro-Davis administration is doing in Harrisburg.”
Davis joined health care advocates and representatives of Protect Our Care, a social welfare nonprofit dedicated to ensuring access to health care a right and not a privilege, at Teamster Local Union 491 on Morgantown Street. Members of Protect Our Care are traveling 8,000 miles across 16 states over four weeks to discuss health care-related issues.
“Millions of Americans are already seeing lower health care costs because of the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Anne Shoup, communications director with the organization. “As of Jan. 1, premium costs are lowered $2,400 on average, insulin costs for seniors are capped at $35 a month, and drug companies can’t extort the American people with egregious price hikes.”
Signed into law in August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act has a number of facets, among them the goal of lowering health care costs.
“We must not go backwards on those big wins,” Davis said, adding that the lack of access to health care is a major problem in this part of the state.
He noted that Fayette County ranks 66 of the state’s 67 counties when it comes to health-related issues like smoking, obesity, alcohol and teen births, and said the number of primary care physicians are lower than state and national averages.
And while medical debt is an issue in the area, Davis said the state House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Medical Debt Relief Act to help those in debt related to health care costs, and prevent future medical debt. The bill now awaits action in the state Senate.
“A bright spot is (Fayette County’s) uninsured rate of 7%, which is lower than the national average,” Davis said. “That bright spot can be erased if we go back and repeal the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Davis said he grew up in McKeesport in Allegheny County and his wife grew up in Donora in Washington County. He told those gathered that he knows how it feels to be forgotten by those in Washington, D.C. and Harrisburg.
“Gov. Shapiro and I will never leave any community behind,” Davis said. “We’re fighting for working-class people in McKeesport, Donora, Uniontown, Connellsville and Waynesburg.”
He added that the first bill Shapiro signed as governor was a bipartisan bill that requires insurance companies to cover breast cancer screenings at no cost for high-risk patients.
“Pennsylvania was the first state in the country to do that, and hopefully will be an example for the nation,” Davis said.
For more information on the Protect Our Care bus tour, visit www.protectourcare.org/bus-tour.