PA BUDGET SAGA CONTINUES On July 27, the PA Senate voted narrowly to approve a series of tax increases that lined up with Wolf Administration proposals such as taxing the extraction of Marcellus natural gas, something Senate Republicans had previously opposed. The...

LEG REG REVIEW 2017, 25th Issue *** July 17, 2017  LEG REG REVIEW is a periodic newsletter produced by PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, a professional lobbying and consultant firm located near the State Capitol.  It contains news on Pennsylvania legislation and regulations...

IN ADDITION TO THE BUDGET DRAMA… the General Assembly acted on a number of insurance-related pieces of legislation: Medicaid Oversight:House Bill 1354 (Grove-R-York) seeks to rein in Medicaid expenditures by creating the Office of Independent Medicaid Director.  The...

AGENT FEE BILL INTRODUCED On June 21, Rep. Mike Tobash (R-Schuylkill) introduced legislation designed to allow insurance agents’ re-entry into the individual health insurance market.  House Bill 1605 states that insurance producers may charge a fee for helping...

CONSOLIDATION UPDATE Reorganization of four Cabinet departments into one PA Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) is drawing attention now that the General Assembly passed partial pension reform (Senate Bill 1 signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf June 12 as...

MILLER WILL BE NOMINATED FOR HHS POST On May 23, Governor Wolf designated Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller as his nominee to be the new Secretary of the proposed PA Department of Health & Human Services.  If approved by the General Assembly, the consolidation...