Office of Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

139 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CONTACT:  Bill Patton

                                                                                                                       717-787-4610

O’Brien pledges strong effort to restore key health agency

HARRISBURG, Aug. 6 – House Speaker Dennis O’Brien says that ensuring continued operation of a state agency that collects and analyzes health data is unfinished business that must be accomplished by the legislature this fall.

“The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is a small but highly effective agency. It has enriched and informed the dialogue about health care in our state,” O’Brien said.

PHC4 was created in 1986, reauthorized in 1993, and again in a 2003 law that expired on June 30 this year. Gov. Edward Rendell extended its operation until the end of November, but the agency will expire then if a new law extending its life is not passed.

Rendell’s temporary extension also had the effect of protecting necessary privacy interests in the sensitive health care data retained by the Council until a permanent solution is achieved by the legislature.

“These dedicated professionals are operating now on a provisional basis with no certainty of continuing beyond this year,” O’Brien said. “This is not acceptable for a group that provides such critical information about health-care outcomes, hospital admissions and infections, and surgical success rates.

“Because of the mountains of data maintained by PHC4, Pennsylvania is the envy of many other states. It would be nonsensical to forfeit this asset through inaction,” he said.

O’Brien said PHC4 is an important partner with hospitals, business and labor organizations in improving health care in Pennsylvania. Requirements for health care providers to submit detailed data on patient outcomes to PHC4 have raised awareness among consumers and sharpened the focus on quality improvement throughout the health industry.

“The information that PHC4 provides has changed people’s expectations and it has changed health care for the better,” he said.

The Speaker acknowledged the legislative schedule is tight this fall, making the need for quick action on PHC4 all the more urgent.

Both the House and Senate have bills that could be used to reauthorize the agency for five years or more. The House Insurance Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the topic next Tuesday in Montgomery County.

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