Pennsylvania governor revises health insurance proposal again

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has further scaled down a proposal to expand healthcare coverage to the uninsured in the hopes of winning legislative approval. Rendell described two alternative approaches to funding the initiative in a letter to key Senate Republicans who have been involved in negotiations. The insurance plan's annual cost would range from $723 million to $857 million by the 2012-13 fiscal year, according to the administration's estimates. Rendell said both options would use a combination of existing state revenue and federal money without raising taxes, and they would expand health insurance coverage to an additional 250,000 uninsured Pennsylvania adults.