Both Lehigh Valley Congressmen voted against the American Health Care Act Thursday. Charlie Dent broke party ranks by joining 19 other Republicans who voted against President Trump's health care plan. Dent says, "I am disappointed that the House passed this bill which I believe will increase health insurance costs, particularly for low-to-moderate income Americans, increase the number of uninsured by up to as many as 24 million people and undermine important protections for those living with pre-existing conditions." Fellow Pennsylvania Republicans Pat Meehan, Ryan Costello and Brian Fitzpatrick also voted against the measure. Democrat Matt Cartwright also voted against the plan, saying, "Americans between the ages of 50-64 will pay premiums five times higher than what others pay for health coverage under the replacement bill."
Democrat Sen. Bob Casey is speaking out agains the healthcare bill that was passed Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sen. Casey says, "What passed isn't a health care bill, but a scheme to cut taxes for millionaires and big corporations, a giveaway to special interests and forces middle class families in Pennsylvania to pay more for their healthcare." The bill is now headed to the Senate for consideration.
Gov. Tom Wolf isn't happy that the healthcare bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday. Wolf says, "This is a sad day for millions of Pennsylvania families who now continue to worry about their access to health care. It is a shameful attempt to score political points at the expense of the sick, poor, elderly and disabled." Wolf says if the General Assembly sends him legislation removing protections in the Affordable Care Act, it will be vetoed.
A Wednesday night fire has claimed the life of an elderly Carbon County woman. 81-year-old Conchita Perschy died in the fire in Lower Towamensing Township home near Palmerton. Randy Gombert is her grandson and lives nearby. He says he tried to save his grandmother. "I picked up a rock in the driveway and threw it through the front window and then there was a brick on the stoop and I grabbed that and threw that and busted the window and grabbed up onto the window ledge and started to pull myself up," Gombert says. But he says the flames and smoke were too much. A state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
An Allentown mother has her neighbor to thank for saving her daughter from a fire. The fire started around 5 o'clock Thursday afternoon in a home on West Liberty Street, near North 13th Street. Fire officials say the neighbor ran into the burning homoe and carried a young girl to safety. No one was seriously hurt but three children, their mother and the neighbor were treated for smoke inhalation.
There's no word yet about what Office of the Inspector General federal agents were doing at an Easton pharmacy Thursday. The Keystone Choice Pharmacy is associated with Jon Paul Letko. Jon and his brother, Edward, agreed to pay the U.S. government more than $12 million last year to resolve allegations of violating the federal False Claim Act. The DOJ says the Letkos allegedly used a fictitious entity to make unsolicited telephone calls to Medicare beneficiaries in order to sell them medical equipment.
The former Rosemont School in Bethlehem is being repurposed. The once-empty school has been turned into a personal care home for senior citizens. After collecting dust for four years, the center had its grand opening Thursday. The 75-bed facility is for physical and memory-support care.
A statewide report from the Department of Human Services says that child abuse cases in Pennsylvania increased last year. The report says 46 children lost their lives and 79 children nearly died as a result of abuse in 2016, both numbers up from 2015 numbers of 36 and 57. According to the report, most of those child victims under the age of 4, and parents are most often the ones responsible.