A leader of the Republican effort to revamp President Barack Obama’s health care law says the message from GOP lawmakers at last week’s private strategy session was for “a very deliberate, thoughtful approach.” … Texas GOP Rep. Kevin Brady chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. He says lawmakers told leaders: “Let’s not rush. Let’s get it right.”

“We also will create efficiencies that make it easier for private sector providers to participate in our programs,” Benso said. “In the long run, we think there’s a likelihood of economies of scale that help you save public resources and move them from [the operation of a department] to the delivery of services which is the goal.”

This is going from one extreme to another. Today state appropriations shamefully provide only 37 percent of total school funding, fourth lowest support in the country. Shifting $12 billion from local to state will move state support to above 80 percent, the third highest in the country. A more balanced approach would aim to be modestly above the national average of 47 percent.

With the health care debate gaining momentum in Washington and some members of Congress and President Trump vowing to repeal the ACA, Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation needs to understand the needs of children — the most vulnerable citizens among us – and what is at stake if a high-quality replacement plan is not immediately available.

Of the many negative aspects of the drug-addiction epidemic in this region, the strain on finding adequate foster care for the children who have been removed from their homes is one of the saddest and increasingly difficult. Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia have all reported an increase in children entering foster care in the last few years at a higher rate than they are leaving.