(12/2022)  House Advances Bill to Expand Prescription Assistance Program

The House has approved legislation to expand availability of prescription drug assistance to more senior citizens through the PACENET program. House Bill 1260 would expand PACENET, which provides life-sustaining medications to more than 300,000 older Pennsylvanians, by raising income eligibility limits to $33,500 for individuals and $41,500 for married couples. The current PACENET eligibility requirement is $27,500 for individuals and $35,500 for married couples. The bill also would eliminate the requirement that PACENET cardholders not enrolled in Medicare Part D pay a monthly benchmark premium. Instead, the bill would require the program to pay this monthly premium. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Open Enrollment Begins for State Insurance Exchange

The 2022 open enrollment period for health care coverage through Pennie, Pennsylvania’s state-based health insurance marketplace, is now underway. Pennsylvanians have until Dec. 15 to sign up for coverage that will begin on New Year’s Day. Created by the Legislature through Act 42 of 2019, Pennie aims to improve access to health care for all state residents, lower health care costs and premiums and ensure excellent customer assistance throughout the enrollment process. For more information or to enroll, visit pennie.com or call customer care at 1-844-844-8040.

House Advances Bill to Give Families More Education Options

The House advanced legislation that would give parents and students the ability to design a more individualized educational model. House Bill 1041 would permit students who are home schooled to attend up to four academic classes during a school day, participate in co-curricular activities, such as marching band, and to have access to programs offered at career and technical education centers. Enabling parents to supplement their children’s home education courses with classes offered by their local public school and co-curricular activities, would maximize the academic potential for those children. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

House Adopts Bill to Give Victims a Greater Voice in Bail Determinations

This week, legislation that would require a victim of violent crime to be notified of legal proceedings to set or modify bail for the defendant was approved in the House. House Bill 2039, which I co-sponsored, would require an arresting officer to provide the victim’s contact information to the magisterial district court conducting a preliminary arraignment to ensure the victim has notice of any proceedings that might change the conditions of bail. The bill would apply to personal injury crimes, crimes of violence, the sexual abuse of children and the sexual exploitation of children. The measure was spurred by an incident in which a man arrested on child pornography charges was found to have photos on his computer of a young child who lives next door. He was released on bail and is back living next door to the child while he awaits trial. The parents never had the opportunity to make a statement about their concerns, which could have altered the conditions of the alleged offender’s bail. House Bill 2039 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Hunters Encouraged to Share Their Harvest

The state Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Game Commission are again urging hunters to consider sharing their deer harvest to provide thousands of pounds of venison to people in need. Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) is Pennsylvania’s venison donation program, which enables hunters to share their extra venison via a statewide network of participating butchers to food pantries and community assistance centers. HSH has distributed 1.5 million pounds of donated venison since 1991. On average, one deer can provide up to 200 meals. Hunters can donate all or part of a harvested deer by taking it to a participating processor, which will then distribute the ground venison to food banks and pantries. For more information, including a list of participating processors in the area, visit ShareDeer.org.