Broken Promises: Physicians Debate Future of Mcare and Medicine

Talk of emergency room overcrowding, the H1N1 pandemic, and other public health and medical economic concerns filled the halls of the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s House of Delegates (HOD).  

The loudest, angriest discussion, however, centered on lawmaker’s recent raid of $100 million in Mcare assessments to balance the state budget. 

In brief, the General Assembly and Gov. Rendell transferred:

  • About $100 million from the Mcare Fund to the state’s General Fund to balance the 2009-2010 state budget
  • The more than $700 million balance in the Health Care Provider Retention Account (HCPRA)  

The General Assembly voted to transfer the HCPRA and Mcare Fund monies despite pending legal actions challenging the state’s rights to these funds. The Society and The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) are engaged in three separate actions, two of which were filed months before the fund transfers. The third was filed immediately after the state budget was signed into law.  

The Mcare raid galvanized many HOD delegates. They recognized that both physicians and patients are confused or uninformed about exactly what was taken from them. They discussed how many physicians have lost their trust in state government, inevitably leading to physician recruitment and retention problems. 

As outgoing Medical Society President Daniel J. Glunk, MD, told the delegates, the issue became personal to many physicians when legislators voted to divert money physicians paid in good faith for Mcare assessments. Watch the video of the speech here.

The delegates asked that the Society should work to restore trust in state government by launching a communications campaign to elect legislators in 2010 who will stand by their word to preserve patient care.  

The delegates also asked the Society to investigate ways to assure that physicians’ 2010 assessments are not similarly taken to balance next year’s state budget. 

The Society’s Board of Trustees is launching an aggressive long-term strategy, working closely with PAMPAC, Pennsylvania’s medical political action committee. The campaign will begin in mid-November 2009 with campaign tools for all Pennsylvania physicians.

Read about other highlights from the HOD. Also, read more on primary liability insurance limits and the 2010 Mcare assessment.

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Comments: 1


I did not state this at the meeting but I believe that we cannot forget that the MCARE assessment did not happen in a vacuum. For months, gov. employees like state troopers,etc were told they would not get paid until a budget was passed. Several were told that their jobs will be eliminated in the future by the governor. Some of these people are our patients or relatives of our friends and employees. In a sense, I was glad that, in the short term, that these people finally saw some light at the end of their tunnels due to passage of a budget even though it meant the desperate decision to use the MCARE fund. I trust the society leaders and staff to make the best decisions in this matter since they deal with these state politics on a daily basis. I hope that the society can use this unfortunate episode to salvage as much as possible for Pa. Doctors. I am sure this can be done without a lot of nastiness, given the multiple and diverse facets of a harsh and strongly political budget crises that affected so many people. The fund is gone now but I hope we can get the most out of this without alienating the public or our political supporters.

Thomas J. Ciotola MD at 11/5/2009 9:13:28 PM

Last Updated: 11/18/2009
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