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Budget Committee Updates Legislative Memos Issues Health Care Spending Health Care Exchanges Prior Approval Federal Health Care Reform Key Government Contacts Related Web sites Archive

Health Care & Health Insurance Committee

Staff Contact: Margaret Moree

What's New

• End of Legislative Session Update
  
  
• Health Exchange Framework Finalized, June 23, 2011
  
  
• Health Spending and Public and Private Spending (Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/2011)
  

News

• 2011 Milliman Medical Index, May 2011
  Healthcare costs for American families double in less than nine years
  
  
• Business Council says higher taxes on health insurance the wrong prescription (Feb. 24, 2011)
  

Budget

• FY 2011-2012 New York State Budget
• State Budget / 2010 End of session Update

2011-2012 Legislative Memos

(Archived Memos)

• Medicaid Redesign Team Recommendation #264, Oppose, Extend HCRA Surcharge to Outpatient Services, Feb. 24, 2011
  
• A.364 (Cahill) / S.2591 (Hannon), Oppose, Restrictions on the Commercial Use of Physician Prescribing Data, 6/14/2011
  Bill text
  
• S. 2809/A. 4009, Part A, Section 11 (Health Article VII Budget Bill), Oppose, Cost Shifting Early Intervention Costs To Private-Pay Health  Insurance Without Regard to Terms of Policy Coverage, 2/28/11
  Bill text
  
• S.3186-A (Hannon) /A.2474-A (Canestrari), Oppose, Permits Physicians to Collectively Bargain With Health Care Plans, 1/13/12
  Bill text
  
• S.4005-A (Fuschillo) / A.6305-A (Morelle), Oppose, Autism Spectrum Disorder Insurance Coverage Mandate, 6/13/2011
  Bill text
• S.4597-B (Hannon), Oppose, Requires Health Plans to Pay a Facility Fee for Office-Based Surgery Procedures, 1/7/12
  Bill Text
• S.5068-A (Hannon)/A.7489-B (Gottfried), Oppose, Requires Health Plans to Reimburse Out-of-Network Services at 80th Percentile of Actual Charges, 1/10/12
  Bill Text
  
• A.5183-A (Simotas) / S.3749-A (Robach), Oppose, Restrictions on Workers’ Comp Pharmecutical Networks, 6/13/11
  Bill text
  
• A.5502-B (Heastie) /S.3510-B (Maziarz), Oppose, Prohibiting health insurance plans from requiring use of mail order pharmacies, 5/25/11
  Bill text
  
• S.6054-A (Maziarz) / A.8904 (Heastie), Support, Chapter Amendment to Mail-Order Prescription Law, 1/9/12
  Bill Text
• S.6055 (Lanza) / A.8906 (V. Lopez), Support, Chapter Amendment to Oral Chemotherapy Medication Parity Law, 1/7/12
  Bill Text
• S.6216 (Skelos) / A.8900 (Silver), Support, Chapter Amendment to Fertility Prescription Drug Parity Law, 1/7/12
  Bill Text
  
  
  

Committee Updates

• October 7, 2011
  • Affordable Care Act Update: Essential Benefits, Health Exchanges, Employer Pay or Play Guidance & More
  • Data Dumps & Surveys: Similar Conclusions (Who's Listening?)
  • Driving Change....
  • Chapters, No Vetoes, and Still Waiting
    
    
• August 5, 2011
  • Health Exchange: Which Comes First, The Chicken or The Egg?
  • Will Exchanges Work? Tales & Observations from the Trenches
  • First Wave of Exchange Federal Rulemaking Released; More to Follow
  • Health Care Spending .....
    
    
• June 22, 2011
  • Health Exchange Framework Finalized
    
    
• June 15, 2011
  • Countdown to Health Insurance Exchange?
  • What’s the Conversation We’re Not Having?  (Hint: Controlling Health Care Costs) 
    
    
• June 9, 2011
  • End of Session Legislation
  • Health Insurance Exchanges
  • Health Insurance Mandates
  • By the Numbers
    
    
• May 18, 2011
  • Newly Released Facts & Figures
  • Continued Efforts, Added Voices Shaping New York’s Health Insurance Exchange
    Individual Subsidy & “Large Employer” Penalty; Auto Enrollment  
    
    
• April 27, 2011
  • Health Exchanges on the Agenda
  • Senator Seward to Discuss Health Exchanges, May 4
    
    
• July 21, 2010
  • The Devil’s In the Details: Federal Health Care Reform Implementation
  • Grandfathered Plans: “If you like your coverage, you can keep it”
  • Speed Dating 101:  Quick Factoids on Some of the 2010 Coverage Mandates
  • “If we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going”  (Havelock Ellis)
    
    
• April 15, 2010
  
  • IRS Issues Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit Guidance
  • State Regulator To Speak to Health Committee Committee on HCR Impact
  • Looking for Premium Relief? Don't Look to the State Capitol

ISSUES

Health care spending

• Health Spending and Public and Private Spending (Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/2011)
  
  
• 2011 Milliman Medical Index, May 2011
  Healthcare costs for American families double in less than nine years

Health Care Exchanges

• Affordable Care Act update: Essential benefits, health exchanges, employer pay or play guidance
  
  
• Health Exchange: Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?
  
  
• Health Exchange Framework Finalized, June 23, 2011
  
  
• Business Council says state should be cautious with health exchange legislation (June 9, 2011)
  
  
• Priority Issue 2011: Health care
  Health care exchanges - How will they work in New York? (By Maggie Moree)
  
  
• Health Care/Insurance Committee Update, June 15, 2011
  • Countdown to Health Insurance Exchange?
  • What’s the Conversation We’re Not Having?  (Hint: Controlling Health Care Costs) 
  • The Senate, the Governor's Program Bill #12.  A side-by-side of key provisions of each bills
    
    
• NYHPA Testimony to NYS Department of Insurance: Establishment of a Health Insurance Exchange in New York, May 16, 2011

Prior Approval

• S.8088 (Rules) /A.11369 (Rules) Governor’s Program Bill 278, Oppose, Prior Approval of Rates in the Small Group Health Insurance Market
• Business Council says “prior approval” savings for state budget is business as usual in Albany
  
  
• Prior Approval of rates reinstated; autism coverage mandate next?, June 14, 2010
• Business Council says “prior approval” savings for state budget is business as usual in Albany
• S.8088 (Rules) /A.11369 (Rules) Governor’s Program Bill 278, Oppose, Prior Approval of Rates in the Small Group Health Insurance Market, 6/7/10
• Prior Approval Group Letter, March 9, 2010
  S. 6608/A. 9708, Part D, which would reinstitute prior approval by the Insurance Department of health insurance rates in New York’s community rated markets
• Milliman Report Concludes Fiscal Year Savings from Prior Approval Will be Negligible

Federal Health Care Reform

• Health Spending and Public and Private Spending (Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/2011)
  
  
• Providing Cover. Federal officials are busily trying to determine what basic health care plans should cover, and there is no shortage of services being pushed. (Meghan McCarthy, National Journal, May 18, 2011)
  
  
• 2011 Milliman Medical Index, May 2011
  Healthcare costs for American families double in less than nine years
  
• N.Y. working to comply with federal health care law State forming a health exchange (by Cara Matthews, Apr. 22, 2011, Pressconnects)
• Massachusetts, pioneer of universal health care, now may try new approach to costs (By Amy Goldstein, Friday, April 15, 2011, Washington Post)
  
• Budget Deal Targets Pieces of Health-Care Law (by Corey Boles, 4/14/11, Wall Street Journal)
• 1,000+ pages of health-care rules? (Politico, DAVID NATHER & J. LESTER FEDER, 3/29/11)
• Health broker bill could be the next 1099 (Sarah Kliff, 3/15/11, Politico)
• Obama Supports Health Law Waiver (National Journal, Meghan McCarthy, Feb. 28, 2011)
  
• Defining 'Essential' Care Regulators Move to Specify Coverage Under Health Law; Insurers Seek Flexibility (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28, 2011)
  
• Long-Term Care Needs Changes, Officials Say (Robert Pear, New York Times, Feb. 21, 2011)
  
• Medicaid and New York’s Budget (Feb. 19, 2011)
  
• Four States Get Waivers to Carry Out Health Law (Robert Pear, New York Times, Feb. 16, 2011)
• ObamaCare and the Medicaid Mess
  States need relief from the program's inflexible rules and escalating costs. (Wall Street Journal, February 15, 2011)
  
• Insurance Reform Is Not Cost Control (Austin Frakt, Kaiser Health News, February 9, 2011)
• Employers, workers to pay more for health coverage (By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times, September 27, 2010)
  
• Small firms should expect double-digit health insurance spike (Pittsburgh Business Times, 9/17/10)
• Is Newer Better? Not Always (New York Times Editorial, September 11, 2010)
• Governor Introduces “NY Bridge Plan” as part of Federal healthcare reform, August 30, 2010
• Insurance agents fight for survival in world after health reform, August 24, 2010
• A health care reform piece might include this new law coming forth in MA (August 3, 2010)
  
• BCNYS recommendations to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) related to the calculation of medical loss ratios (MLR) as part of federal health care reform (May 25, 2010)
• Panel: Health care law will increase costs (The Business Review, May 20, 2010)
• Beyond the headlines: Some Things To Plan for In Federal Health Care Reform Implementation, (March 23, 2010)
• Business Council’s review of  Federal Health Care Bill (March 22, 2010)
• Federal Health Care Reform in New York State
• Business Council says Senate Health Care Reform Bill fails New Yorkers
  
  
  • Business Council, governor say U.S. Senate bill will hurt N.Y.(Thomas Adams/Rochester Business Journal) 
  • Gov, Biz Council: Health bill hurts NY (Business First of Buffalo)
    
    
• Business Council calls on Congress to consider costs of health care reform
  
• Feds must consider NY situation in fixing care by Kenneth Adams, Poughkeepsie Journal
• Health Care on Capital Business Blog
  
• Business Council calls on Congress to consider costs of health care reform 
• Letter to NY Congressional Delegation (July 28, 2009)
  

KEY CONTACTS

RELATED WEB SITES:

• Kaiser Family Foundation
• Institute of Medicine
• The HSA Insider
• Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
• NYS Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans/Factual Information on Health-Care Costs, Access, Quality
• NYS Health Accountability Foundation
• National Committee for Quality Assurance
• The New York State Health Facilities Association
• New York Health Plan Association
• New York State Department of Health
• Healthcare Association of New York State
• NCQA
• Medical Consumers