***FACT CHECK*** Tom Wolf Holds Health Care Hostage

June 2015: Tom Wolf Vetoes All Funding for Health Care

In June 2015, Wolf vetoes all health care contained in the budget passed by the State Senate and State House. (Angela Couloumbis and Madison Russ, “Wolf vetoes entire GOP budget, says ‘math doesn’t work’,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/2/2015)

  • Wolf’s veto zeroed-out funding for 274 out of 401 of the line-item appropriations in the Republican budget that were funded at the same or higher levels than his proposal. (“Putting an End to the ‘Raise Your Taxes’ Campaign,” Office of Representative Michael Regan, 8/17/2015)

September 2015: Tom Wolf Blocks Emergency Health Care Resources
Veto Affected State and Federal Funding

Tom Wolf vetoed $17.5 million to hospitals, which caused $18.5 million in federal funds to not be sent to hospitals as well. (Walt Frank, “Wolf’s line-item veto hurting Tyrone Hospital,” Altoona Mirror, 1/28/2016)

  • “The governor knows this is an item that is heavily supported by the Republican Legislature. He doesn’t want to do anything to hurt the hospitals, but it is a matter of getting other things in the budget funded,” Baronner [Larry Baronner, critical access coordinator for the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health] said. (Walt Frank, “Wolf’s line-item veto hurting Tyrone Hospital,” Altoona Mirror, 1/28/2016)

December 2015: Tom Wolf Blocks Emergency Health Care Resources

In December 2015, Tom Wolf vetoed:

  • $5,676,000 For Medical Assistance Payments To Critical Access Hospitals
  • $4,987,000 For Primary Health Care and Preventative Services For Eligible Medical Assistance Recipients In The Fee-For-Service Delivery System
  • $3,782,000 For Hospital-Based Burn Centers
  • $3,681,000 For Obstetrics And Neonatal Services
  • $1,959,601 For Medical Assistance Payments – Capitation Plans. For Provision For Outpatient Services And Inpatient Hospital Services To Eligible Persons Involved In An Approved Capitation Plan.
  • $1,777,000 For Long-Term Care Services
  • $600,000 For Regional Cancer Institutes
  • $561,000 For Epilepsy Support Services
  • $469,000 For Trauma Prevention
  • $357,000 For Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Support
  • $315,000 For Combatting Adult Cystic Fibrosis And Other Respiratory Illnesses
  • $153,000 For Combatting Tourette’s Syndrome
  • $102,000 For Diabetes Research
  • $102,000 For Lupus Programs
  • $100,000 For Screening For Newborns
  • $85,000 For Sickle Cell Anemia Services, Including Camps For Children With Sickle Cell Anemia
  • $31,000 To Services For Children With Special Needs
  • $29,000 For Hemophilia Services
  • $17,000 For Tuberculosis Screening And Treatment
  • $2,000 For Combatting Cooley’s Anemia
  • And More… (“Letter from the Governor to the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Office of the Governor, 12/29/2015)

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