This time it's not leadership in some cutting-edge trend that other states are following. Rather, it's the failure to pass health care reform that would have an impact on the number of uninsured.
This week, Pennsylvania joined California (as well as Illinois and New Mexico) in debating an ambitious reform package and then blinking.
According to news stories, a Republican-led Pennsylvania Senate was put off by a weakening economy and a fear of having to raise taxes to pay the bill. Given the current economic crisis, it's an argument that even health-reform advocates understand. "Health reform at the state level," says Diana Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, "is a very heavy lift for any state." When the economy turns down, she adds, it becomes "more difficult to accomplish and more difficult to sustain."
So far, Massachusetts -- which passed its bill in healthier economic times -- stands alone in having a health reform effort that is significantly reducing the numbered of uninsured residents in the state.
