By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — Pennsylvania families with children who have mental or physical disabilities are off the hook for a planned Medicaid co-payment requirement — for now, at least.

Pennsylvania Welfare Department spokeswoman Anne Bale says the plan to require a Medicaid co-payment for children with autism and other disabilities has been scrapped and instead, the department will work to develop a system that would have families pay a premium.

“A premium is preferable mostly for families because they will then know each month how much they will owe,” Bale tells KYW Newsradio.   “With the co-pay, there was some confusion because they were never going to be sure how much they would owe per month.”

Bale says the department will work with stakeholders and the federal government to come up with a premium program. She cannot say how long that will take, but in the meantime the co-payment plan, which would have affected a family of four with $46,000 per year of income, will not be in effect.