Cheers to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Gov. Tom Corbett. Federal officials announced Thursday they have approved the proposed waiver to expanding Medicaid, allowing Corbett to provide medical coverage through the state's Healthy PA initiative.

The initiative, Corbett's response to the federal Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — should aid more than 600,000 Pennsylvanians through private, commercial insurance that includes national standards around essential health benefits, mental health parity, and preventive care.

Healthy PA's benefit packages should resemble those provided in the commercial market to working Pennsylvanians through their employers.

Responding to the announcement, the Pennsylvania Medical Society issued a reminder about the importance of access to competent health care.

“Now, more than ever before, it is important to strengthen health care teams and assure all Pennsylvanians have access to quality care provided by physician-led health care teams,” said PMS President Bruce A. MacLeod M.D., a practicing emergency medicine physician from Pittsburgh. “Having health insurance is one thing. Accessing health care is another. The Pennsylvania Medical Society strongly urges the legislature to continue its work to strengthen health care teams and assure all Pennsylvanians have access to the right care, in the right place, at the right time.”

Well said. The objective of health insurance reform is more than change; it should be change that provides better health care to more people at a better price.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society looks forward to working with Governor Corbett and his administration on the implementation of the Healthy PA waiver and other efforts to expand access to affordable, quality health care across the state.

Healthy PA by itself doesn't accomplish that, but it does establish an opportunity to accomplish it. Pennsylvanians must not squander this opportunity.

The feathers flew last week over miscommunicated speculation about the fate of the Lions Road bridge, which spans Route 422 near the municipal line between Center and Butler townships. Conflicting statements — one sent to Butler Township Manager Ed Kirkwood, the other to the Butler Eagle — has us wondering what's PennDOT's plan for the bridge's future.The mix-up involved the damaged underside of the bridge's concrete deck, discovered during a recent routine inspection. The deck has been gouged by a tall vehicle passing under it, but damage has not forced any traffic restrictions; even so, PennDOT indicated in an e-mail to Kirkwood that the deck must be replaced — the only problem is, that kind of work isn't currently funded.Another PennDOT communication, composed by a PennDOT engineer and distributed to the media, indicates there is no formal decision about the bridge, only that officials were considering all alternatives including closure of the bridge and rerouting traffic to nearby Duffy and Benbrook roads.Kirkwood has objected to that option for safety reasons, including the prospect of rerouting emergency vehicles in the event of a fire or other crisis.A look at the map should suggest a more favorable long-term option: PennDOT already has the makings of a full-blown cloverleave interchange at the junction of routes 422 and 356, a mere 200 yards or so east of the Lions Road bridge. At some point, PennDOT must have been planning the extension of Route 356 north of 422, it can easily be extended northward, aligned with Benbrook Road and eventually connected with Route 8 in Center Township.Completion of this interchange makes obvious sense when laid out on a map. It also gives context to the logic behind a suggested closure of the Lions Road bridge. Yet it hasn't been suggested in PennDOT's communications to municipal officials or the media. Maybe it's time to revive the subject.

Mazel tov to Carole Stein of Boynton Beach, Fla. and formerly of Pittsburgh. The recently widowed wife of a rabbi has donated a beautiful, kosher Torah scroll to Butler's synagogue, Congregation B'nai Abraham, where water from a burst pipe in January damaged its five scrolls.The connection was improbable — Stein has no prior connection with Butler or its Jewish community. But she read about B'nai Abraham's plight in a national Jewish publication after the Butler Eagle broke the story. Stein said the Torah belonged to her late husband, Rabbi Andrew Beck, who died in 2007. Because the Torah was also given in memory of Beck's late mother, Stein said she needed to find a good home for it.“It was a very heartwarming decision,” Stein said.Cheers also to the Todd Lavin family, B'nai Abraham members who lovingly packaged and transported the scroll from Florida to Butler in accordance with Jewish kosher customs.Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer, B'nai Abraham's spiritual leader, said an outpouring of love resulted from January's calamity. She said there's a Hebrew word for the synagogue's newest experience: “besheret” meaning, “it was meant to be.”Who could disagree?