David Pfeiffer, 54, is a self-employed auto mechanic in Pequea Township who can continue changing belts and fixing brakes only if he has his health.

And as of today, Pfeiffer has reason to worry about staying healthy.

He is one of 41,000 working Pennsylvanians who depended upon the low-cost, no-frills adultBasic health plan to meet his medical needs. In 2008, for example, adultBasic covered Pfeiffer when a combination of a pinched nerve, sciatica and adult-onset diabetes put him in the hospital for three days.

But yesterday, Gov. Tom Corbett allowed adultBasic to expire after a nine-year run, and Pfeiffer, who earned $14,000 last year, finds himself uninsured and unsure if he'll be able to afford even routine doctor visits.

As determined as Corbett is to protect the natural gas industry from paying taxes on Marcellus shale drilling, he's shown no interest in protecting the health of taxpayers like Pfeiffer. "There's no money in the budget for" adultBasic, Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley told WITF last week, a handy excuse that doesn't hold up to scrutiny, considering that:

• Legislative leaders are sitting on a $189-million slush fund they reserve for pet projects that bypass the budget process.

• An account to compensate victims of medical negligence is fully funded at $120 million while the funding mechanism, a surcharge on traffic tickets, continues to generate $50 million a year.

• Pennsylvania is still the only state that doesn't levy an excise tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco, a potential source of $50 million.

• The nonprofit Blue Cross plans have built a cumulative surplus of $5.9 billion since 2005, when their contributions started funding adultBasic at a cost of $166 million last year. The amount needed to fund adultBasic represents only 3 percent of the Blues' surplus.

• The state's nine for-profit insurers weren't asked to contribute to keep adultBasic funded.

• AdultBasic subscribers weren't asked to increase the $36 premium they pay monthly.

• And most significantly, the governor made no effort to keep adultBasic going.

Corbett's lack of action is in contrast to the initiative Gov. Tom Ridge showed in starting adultBasic in 2002 when the number of uninsured Pennsylvanians hit 1 million.

It's also in sharp contrast to Gov. Ed Rendell's success in negotiating a six-year agreement with the Blue Cross companies in 2005 to meet their charitable obligation by funding adultBasic.

Some working Pennsylvanians who lost their coverage yesterday are enrolling in a more expensive, more bare-bones Blue Cross plan called Special Care. But the monthly premium of $137.80 is more than Pfeiffer, who is single, says he can afford.

"Business is real bad," said Pfeiffer, who gets by without a cell phone, computer or credit card and who drives a 1969 pickup with 252,000 miles on it. When his school taxes came due last year, he cashed in retirement savings.

Pfeiffer takes seven medications — which he always paid for out-of-pocket — and sees his doctor every three months. But without coverage, he's concerned about being able to see his doctor so frequently, which means he'll have trouble getting prescriptions.

Pfeiffer realizes that stopping medications for hypertension and blood sugar could lead to big problems down the road, but he said, "I see no other choice."

"I'm just resigned to the fact that I don't have health insurance," he said, "and just praying like hell I never get sick or hurt."

jhawkes@lnpnews.com