Click here for event program 

Congressman Sestak Hosts First Healthy Families Resource Fair
Families Gain Access to More Than Eighty Health Care Organizations

August 7, 2010

UPPER DARBY, PA — Today, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) hosted his first Healthy Families Resource Fair at Upper Darby High School. The event featured a service fair that connected hundreds of constituents with nearly 80 different government agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide information on current and upcoming opportunities available as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). As the implementation of health care reform law begins, Congressman Sestak is working to provide the members of our community with informative and useful resources regarding the changes to our health care system.

“It is the responsibility of those who worked on this effort of securing affordable care for all Americans to now explain to people the ways they can and will benefit,” said the Congressman. “We are providing millions of uninsured Americans with quality, affordable health care, delivering much needed relief to seniors in the form of prescription drug benefits, and offering tax credits to small businesses to enable them to provide coverage for their employees. These initiatives are especially timely after so many working families lost their jobs and savings during the recession.”

Upon assuming office, one of Congressman Sestak’s first priorities was to provide all Americans with access to the affordable and quality health care he received for his family through the military. The Congressman joined the Small Business and Education and Labor Committees’ health care subcommittees, and immediately set to work finding practical solutions to the nation’s health care crisis as more than 500 Pennsylvanians were losing their coverage every day and premiums had nearly doubled since 2001.

After proudly casting his vote for the new comprehensive health care reform law, the Congressman emphasized that we still must take steps to incentivize quality over quantity of care and invest in universal electronic health care records and life-saving medical research.

The Healthy Families Resource Fair is one of about 50 summits held in the past three and a half years as part of Congressman Sestak’s constituent outreach program. Since first taking office, the Congressman has used this initiative to bring together his constituents with the organizations available to assist them as well as to gather valuable feedback enabling him to bring the concerns of his district to Washington, DC.

”Like with similar events we have held for Veterans, seniors and small businesses owners, this fair provides a valuable opportunity for those that will benefit from health care reform to understand just how and in what way their coverage will improve,” said Congressman Sestak. “As an elected official, it is my responsibility to inform my constituents as fully as possible about how legislation like this will affect their lives, and I look forward to continuing advocating for better healthcare for all.”

Among the provisions to support working families and small businesses, the Congressman has highlighted how the new law:

• Grants immediate, affordable health coverage to uninsured Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions, and expands access to affordable coverage for Pennsylvanians who purchase their own health insurance. Starting in September 2010, all co-payments for preventive services will be eliminated. 
• Provides safeguards to seniors by beginning to close the Medicare prescription drug donut hole. In 2010, it provides a $250 rebate to seniors who hit the donut hole, where seniors are required to pay the full cost of their drugs. In 2011, it provides a 50% discount on brand name drugs in the donut hole, and completely phases out the donut hole by 2020. It also eliminates co-pays for preventive care under Medicare starting in January 2011.
• Ensures young adults, the nation’s largest group of uninsured, have access to coverage by requiring insurers to allow them to stay on their parents’ health care plan up to the age of 26. This provision begins in September 2010.
• Ends the worst abuses of the private health insurance industry. By 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate against individuals with pre-existing conditions, older Americans and women, drop coverage when you get sick, or cap lifetime or annual benefits regardless of need.
• Provides the largest middle class tax break in history, $464 billion in health care tax credits for working class families over 10 years.
• Aids small businesses growth by providing $40 billion of small business health care tax credits over ten years and reducing their health care costs by 18 percent.
• Reduces the federal deficit by $143 billion over ten years and as much as $1.2 trillion over the next twenty years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Participating Organizations:

• AARP
• Addus Healthcare
• AFLAC
• Alliance for Retired Americans
• American Cancer Society
• Anthem Institute
• Any Lab Test Now
• Arc of Delaware County
• Bayada Nurses
• Breast Cancer Coalition
• Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital
• Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center
• ChesPenn Health Services
• Chester County Department of Aging
• Chi Institute - Broomall
• Child Guidance Resource Center
• Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Comfort Keepers
• Community Action Agency of Delaware County
• Community Transit of Delaware County
• Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Delaware Valley (CCCSDV)
• Crozer Chester Medical Center
• Crozer-Keystone Health System – Community Health Education Department
• Crozer-Keystone Health System Senior Health Services
• Crozer-Keystone Healthplex Sports Club
• Delaware County Medical Society
• Delaware County Memorial Hospital
• Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging
• Delaware County Suicide Prevention and Awareness Task Force
• Devon Manor
• Devry University and Keller School of Management
• Domestic Abuse Project
• Freedom Valley Disability Center
• Heaven Bound
• Heckert, Bikin & Pile LLP Senior Law Attorneys
• Holcomb Behavior Health System
• I-Lead
• Insphere Insurance Solutions
• JEVS Supports for Independence
• Keystone Stars
• Kids Smiles Non-Profit Dental Health Centers for Children
• Lansdowne YMCA
• Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania
• Liberty Resources
• Life at Home Genesis Care Healthcare
• Lyme Disease Association of Southeastern PA
• Main Line Health – Riddle Hospital
• Main Line Health Behavioral Health
• Manna
• Med-Equip, Inc.
• Medical Weight Management
• Mirmont Treatment Center
• My Kids B Fit
• NAMI
• National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees – AFSCME, AFL-CIO
• Nemours/Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children
• Office of State Representative Nick Miccarelli
• PA CareerLink of Delaware County
• PA Department of Health – Delaware County State Health Office
• PA Families Inc.
• PathWays PA
• PECO
• Pennsylvania Insurance Department
• Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General – Consumer Protection Unit
• Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General – Health Care Section
• Pennsylvania SMP, Medicare Fraud Prevention – CARIE
• Philadelphia Unemployment Project
• Philadelphia VA Regional Office and Insurance Center (VAROIC)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA
• Primary Home Care
• Ride Away
• Senior Care Cooperative
• Senior Resource Guide
• Social Security Administration
• Take Shape for Life
• The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
• The PACE Program of Pennsylvania Department of Aging
• Victoria’s Home Care
• WIC Program Crozer Chester Medical Center
• WomenCare Mentoring
• Women’s Way