District 20 News: State Rep. Kinkead

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and I swear I can almost feel the love in the air! Coupled with February being American Heart Month, it’s a great time to talk about some legislation and new laws that are helping Pennsylvanians and their loved ones stay healthy at every stage of life.

Let’s begin at the earliest stage. Owen’s Law went into effect in late January, increasing access to donated human milk for Pennsylvanian infants in need by expanding the eligible health conditions under Medicaid coverage. Owen’s Law is already helping more babies across the Commonwealth get the nutrition they need to thrive, but it’s especially significant for Black families, who have disproportionately worse maternal and infant health outcomes. It was wonderful to see local and state leaders come together at Mid-Atlantic Mothers’ Milk Bank in Pittsburgh in recent weeks to celebrate this bipartisan victory for infant health.

Moving to adolescence, a new bill has been introduced by Rep. Greg Scott, D-Montgomery, to help better identify risk factors of sudden cardiac arrest, the leading cause of death among student athletes here in Pennsylvania. According to the state Department of Education, approximately one in 70 high schools will experience an SCA event this year. Students in Pennsylvania are required by law to undergo regular screenings of hearing, vision, height and weight, and dental hygiene. And to participate in a school sport, a child is required to undergo a physical examination and a pre-participation screening, part of which is the signing of an acknowledgment of the risk of SCA that comes with participation in athletic events. Rep. Scott’s legislation would require electrocardiograms, tests to screen for SCA risk factors, for all students from first enrollment in a school and biannually through high school graduation as a condition of participation in a school-sponsored athletic activity. The bill would also ensure that every school in the state is outfitted with AED machines, which have been found to increase the survival rate of SCA by 50% when combined with CPR. I look forward to supporting Rep. Scott’s H.B. 1628 in the House, as it would help prevent unnecessary loss of life among young athletes.

Another law benefitting the health of Pennsylvanians removes out-of-pocket costs associated with many cancer screenings. Backed by unanimous support in both legislative chambers, the first bill Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law requires insurance companies to now cover preventive breast and ovarian cancer screenings for high-risk patients at no cost. With this new law, Pennsylvania has become one of the leading states in fighting breast cancer. We all know someone who has been impacted by breast cancer, and I’m proud to have supported this bill in the House. This law is the first of its kind nationwide, and it’s the type of bipartisan legislation that shows what we can do for the people of Pennsylvania when we work together.

Thanks to a bipartisan achievement signed into law at the end of 2023, thousands of seniors living in Pennsylvania will be able to continue accessing low-cost prescription drugs through the state’s Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly and its companion program PACE Needs Enhancement Tier. Without the new law that extends the current Social Security moratorium on these income-eligible programs, an estimated 20,000 seniors would have been disqualified from receiving this life-saving support because of increases in their overall income due to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. I was proud to vote yes on this legislation and make life more affordable for aging Pennsylvanians. PACE and PACENET currently serve more than 250,000 Pennsylvanians. If you know a senior struggling to afford prescription medications, my office can help determine their eligibility for these and other state programs to help them live their best lives.

In this month of love, I invite you to contact my office for the people that you love to see what state programs you or your loved ones might be eligible for to make your life healthier and easier. You can contact my office by emailing RepKinkead@pahouse.net or calling (412) 321-5523. My team and I are here to assist you and your loved ones however we can.