Official renews call for state retirement program

• The plan, dubbed Keystone Saves, would primarily target small businesses that can't afford to offer their own retirement plans.
• The notion of a state-sponsored plan has been kicking around for at least five years, driven by the recognition that many people are not saving enough money to quit working someday.
• The lack of savings will tarnish people's golden years. But it also creates a multibillion-dollar burden for the government.

• Pew estimates Pennsylvania will incur $17.8 billion in costs by 2035 stemming from poor savings, reflecting a mix of lost tax revenue and greater demand for health and social services.
• At the same time, there will be fewer workers to shoulder the load, Pew added.

• Under the program, employees of participating companies would be automatically enrolled in a state-run individual retirement account, or IRA.
• Employees could choose to opt out.
• Pew estimates that 2 million Pennsylvania workers lack access to job-based retirement savings, such as a 401(k).

• As of the end of January, state plans had accumulated more than $735 million in savings, according to the center, which tracks state-level activity
• The sate options do not appear to have crowded out private-sector providers, according to Garrity and Scott.
• "I think the big thing is that the market is not providing cost-effective solutions to small-business owners and, frankly, small-business owners have a lot on their plates," Scott said. "There's just a gap here that needs to be filled and Keystone Saves is an ideal solution."

• Dozens of lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, co-sponsored Keystone Saves legislation last year.
• An AARP poll last year also found relatively widespread support for the idea.
• But the bill never made it out of committee.
• Garrity's predecessor, former Treasurer Joe Torsella, a Democrat, pushed for a similar program.
• Garrity, a Republican, said she is optimistic that bipartisan support for the idea will continue.
• "It really is an issue that's going to impact all of our taxpayers," she said.

Quick takes

• Nearly one-third of nursing homes in Pennsylvania have at least 21 openings for direct-care providers, according to a new report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which says inadequate staffing leads nursing homes to deny entry to people seeking care.
• In the world of services for people with intellectual disabilities and autism, staff shortages and underfunding have spurred an 11% drop in the number of people being served over the last three years, according to research by the Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association, Pennsylvania Advocacy and Resources for Autism and Intellectual Disability and The Provider Alliance.
• The groups described the care system for people with intellectual disabilities as being in a state of collapse.

• Their new research comes ahead of next week's budget address by Gov. Josh Shapiro, scheduled for March 7.

• The technology is from a San Francisco-based company called Kinsa.
• Pittsburgh-based Highmark says Allegheny Health is the first health system to use Kinsa's early-warning system.