Federalism is alive and well.

Bipartisanship and good news out of Washington being rare things these days, it was good to see the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approve Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s Healthy Pennsylvania plan.

Healthy Pennsylvania is Corbett’s alternative to expanding Medicaid, a federal program that provides health coverage to Americans with low incomes.

The Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s key legislative achievement, sought to expand the program to cover millions of Americans who lack coverage.

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Medicaid mandate, it became optional. States could opt in, opt out or offer their own alternatives to simple expansion.

While alternatives were allowed under the law as written, the high court ruling arguably gave the Obama administration an incentive to look more favorably on reform proposals since they might be the only ways to extend coverage to more of the working poor.

As noted in this space before, the New Era believes Corbett made good use of the flexibility provided by the high court’s 2012 ruling.

Rather than simply expanding Medicaid — a program that sometimes essentially denies care to the poor because doctors avoid its low reimbursement rates — Corbett sought to reform it.

Corbett’s program seeks to provide coverage to an estimated 600,000 additional Pennsylvanians by offering them federal subsidies to purchase private insurance.

This will reduce disruption for those whose incomes rise enough to no longer qualify for the program and likely provide better coverage overall.

Some worry over Healthy PA’s requirement that participants above the poverty line pay a small share of their premiums beginning in year two of the program.

If critics are correct, and that drives down the number of people covered, that would be a shame. But if, as seems more likely, Corbett is right and small premium payments dissuade very few from seeking coverage, the idea is a good one.

As in the case of Healthy PA’s private coverage, paying a portion of their premiums like everyone else will help keep program participants in the mainstream. And the more health care consumers can speak as one, the better the insurance industry and government can respond appropriately to their shared concerns.

Healthy PA is a good plan. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2015 — a year later than Medicaid expansion, a delay that is unfortunate — and enrollment begins Dec. 1.

Kudos to Corbett for seeking to reform a broken Medicaid program rather than listening to those who advised taking the money to simply expand it.

And credit is due to HHS as well — for allowing Pennsylvania to try its private-insurance alternative.

Read the article online HERE.