He urged the General Assembly to add more session days before the Nov. 4 election to work on health-care and energy legislation.

"These are crucial issues that can't be deferred," the Democratic governor said during a conference call sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

The surplus in a tobacco-tax-funded account that helps doctors pay malpractice premiums has grown so large, he said, that the state can insure about 200,000 more adults in the first year and about 400,000 adults within three years.

Rendell pushed for action before the General Assembly's two-year session expires. The Senate is not expected to reconvene after the election, and only a handful of session days are scheduled for September and October.

Rendell, House Democrats and Senate Republicans have offered different proposals to make health care more affordable, and the governor said he was looking for middle ground.

"We're trying to include some of the best elements of their proposal with our elements that would increase coverage," Rendell said.

Sen. Ted Erickson (R., Delaware), who chairs the Public Health and Welfare Committee, said yesterday that settling on a funding source, particularly going into the future, remained a sticking point.

"I keep saying that - maybe it's to convince myself - that I'm being optimistic about it," he said.

A spokesman for House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) said it was unlikely that more session days would be added.