HARRISBURG -- With the economy sinking to lows not seen in decades, Gov. Ed Rendell is rolling out a five-point plan designed to assist more people in meeting basic health care needs, home heating costs, mortgage payments and job retraining.

He said that while Pennsylvania's share of $17.8 billion in federal stimulus funds will ultimately boost the state's economy, he wants to take quicker steps that shouldn't cost too much but will help folks who are facing home foreclosure or job losses.

"Many families are having trouble just hanging on these days," he told reporters yesterday, after just learning that six counties in the state, including Bedford, now have double-digit unemployment.

"More people are losing their jobs and their health insurance. I have decided to take action for emergency economic relief for families."

The first part of his plan will add 16,000 more people to the Adult Basic health coverage plan, which already covers nearly 44,000. He said funds are on hand, through previous savings, to pay for the additional people.

He said the waiting list for the program is expanding quickly, and has now reached 205,000 -- up by 25,000 in just the past month. The program is for people age 19 to 64 without health insurance and whose family income is less than $44,000 a year for a family of four. There is a $35 co-pay for people in the program.

Adult Basic offers preventative care, doctors' visits, in-patient hospitalization, out-patient care and emergency accident care.

Mr. Rendell said he can implement most of his changes on his own executive authority, but he does need General Assembly approval for another Adult Basic change -- adding a generic prescription drug program.

With the cost of drugs so high these days, "It's a disgrace that prescription drugs aren't included" in the Adult Basic program, he said.

He didn't have a cost estimate for doing that, which could raise objections from some lawmakers, since the state is already facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit. But Mr. Rendell said there are federal funds available to help.

And in a somewhat related matter, Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, said yesterday he plans to propose a new 6 percent tax on political advertising in Pennsylvania as a way to raise funds to pay for Adult Basic.

The other parts of the Rendell plan are:

• Redirecting the use of a $5 million surplus from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, also called cash assistance, which is federal money that goes to low-income adults and families and their dependent children. The money would help laid-off workers make mortgages payments for a few months, while they look for new jobs or undergo job retraining classes. "We must give homeowners a hand," he said.

• Using $6.6 million in federal heating assistance funds this winter instead of saving it for next winter. The deadline for applying for such funds was March 31, but Mr. Rendell extended it to April 3.

"Don't be fooled by the warm winter last weekend," he said. "Many people still need help with heating costs."

• Telling state Labor & Industry Department officials to staff state job placement offices called "career link" on evenings and Saturdays, so more people can use them. He wasn't sure how much extra this will cost.

• Telling people about a new Web site that finds lower prescription drug prices, called www.parxpricefinder.com.

If a person enters his/her ZIP code, plus the name of the prescription drug and how far they're willing to drive, the site will find locations of pharmacies in your neighborhood where the drug is available.

He said Pennsylvanians can also get a wide range of information to cope with job loss, retraining, health care and other issues from a state Web site -- www.heretohelp.pa.gov.

"These steps won't solve all our problems with the economy, but they will help citizens as a most vulnerable time," Mr. Rendell said.