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Health Care & Health Insurance Committee

Staff Contact: Margaret Moree

What's New

• A health care reform piece might include this new law coming forth in MA (August 3, 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

State Budget / End of session Update

Blog Updates

• Standards Issued for Electronic Health Records, July 15, 2010
• States resist HHS control of premiums, July 6, 2010
• Easy health reform, June 25, 2010
• Businesses need to plan for health reform, June 25, 2010
• Oppose medical malpractice “reform” legislation, June 15, 2010
• Medical device makers: New tax will cost jobs, June 7, 2010

Committee Updates

• 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

Testimony

• Regulatory Approval of Health Insurance Premium Rates
  June 8, 2009
• What is Driving Local Healthcare Costs and What Can Be Done?
  May 21, 2009

Legislative Memos 2009-2010

• 2009-10 Executive Budget, Oppose, HMO Premium Tax
• S.121-A (Sampson) / A.2007-B (Gottfried), Oppose, Establishes a prescription drug discount program
  Bill text
• A.162/S.249 (Parts D, G), A.158/S.58 (Part C), A.160/S.60 (Part D)
  Deficit Reduction Plan & Executive Budget – Health Insurance Taxes
  Bill text: A.162/S.249 (Parts D, G), A.158/S.58 (Part C), A.160/S.60 (Part D)
• A.158/S.58 (Part C), Oppose, Bio Pharmaceutical Ban on Payments to Health Care Providers & Disclosure Provisions
  Bill text
• A.158/S.58 (Part C), A.160/S.60 (Part D), Oppose, Executive Budget - Health Insurance Taxes
  Bill text: A.158/S.58, A.160/S.60
• S.185 Morahan / A.4752 P. Rivera, Oppose, Expands List of Illnesses Covered by Timothy’s Law Mental Health Mandate
  Bill text
• S.1645 (Diaz) / A.7666 (Dinowitz), Oppose, Authorizes Executive Director of State Office for the Aging to create a NYS prescription medication cost containment program
  Bill text
  
• S.1646 (Huntley) / A.5659 (P. Rivera), Oppose, Makes Timothy’s Law Permanent
  Bill text
• S.3156 (Monserrate), Oppose, Requires pharmaceutical manufacturers and medical device manufacturers disclose gifts of $75 or more made to health care providers
  Bill text
• S.3157 (Monserrate) /A.5201 (Brodsky), Oppose, Subjects drug and medical device manufacturers which engage in direct-to-consumer advertising to liability
  Bill text
• S.5000-B (Duane)/ A.8278-B (Kellner), Oppose, Prohibiting commercial health insurance plans from creating in specialty tiers within prescription drug benefit plans
  Bill text
• S.5470 Breslin / A.8280 Morelle (Governor’s Program Bill #15), Oppose, Health Insurance Premium Rate Setting
  Bill text
• S.5672 (Huntley) / A.8611 (Morelle) (Governor’s Program Bill #17), Oppose, Makes Timothy’s Law Permanent
  Bill text
• A.5891-B (Cahill) /S. 4111-A (Klein), Oppose, Prohibits the sale of physician identified prescription records to market prescription drugs to doctors
  Bill text
• S.6015 Rules (Governor’s Program Bill #58), Oppose, Marketing Prohibitions on Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Manufacturers; Marketing Disclosure Provisions
  Bill text
• S.6608/A9708, Part B, Oppose, Expands the Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) Surcharge of 9.63% to Cover Surgical and Radiological Services Performed in Private Ambulatory Centers, Physicians' Offices and Urgent Care Settings
  Bill text
  
• S.6608/A.9708, Part B (pages 86-104), Oppose, Regulates Interactions Between Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industries and Health Care Professionals
  Bill text
• A.6929 (Brodsky), Oppose, Sale of prescription drug data containing the physician’s identity
  Bill text
• S.7000-B (Breslin, Duane) / A.10372-A (Morelle), Oppose, Autism Spectrum Disorder Insurance Coverage Mandate
  Bill text
• S.8088 (Rules) /A.11369 (Rules) Governor’s Program Bill 278, Oppose, Prior Approval of Rates in the Small Group Health Insurance Market
  

Legislative Memos 2007-08

• S.3020-A/A.6159, Health Care Quality and Cost Containment Commission
• S.5128 / A.8364, Prohibition on insurers' right of subrogation for collateral source payments
• S.4158-A / A.7146-B, MRI health insurance mandate
• S.6056 / A.8704, Healthcare Community Reinvestment Fund
• S.6316 / A.4859-D, Healthy New York / Labor Management Benefit Fund Demonstration Program

ISSUES

Prior Approval

• 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

• 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)
  

Uninsured

• Hard Times and Health Insurance: Staying Covered When You Lose Your Job (March 3, 2009)

Medicaid

• New York Continues to be First in Nation in Per-capita Medicaid Spending (November 1, 2007)

Medicare Part D

• Creditable Coverage Disclosure Guide
• More than 27 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D

News

• Business Council says “prior approval” savings for state budget is business as usual in Albany (June 8, 2010)
• Milliman Report Concludes Fiscal Year Savings from Prior Approval Will be Negligible (March 23, 2010)
• Business Council tells legislature to do no more harm in health care (Feb. 9, 2010)
• Business Council says Senate Health Care Reform Bill Fails New Yorkers (Dec. 21, 2009)
• Business Council calls for medical malpractice reform (Dec. 1, 2009)
• Feds must consider NY situation in fixing care
• Business Council calls on Congress to consider costs of health care reform (July 30, 2009)
• End of session job creation message to the legislature, 6/19/09
• Business Council says real cost of health care must come down (June 8, 2009)
• Health care taxes could damage vital industry according to The Business Council (March 18, 2009)
• Labor and Business groups unite against health care taxes (March 9, 2009)
• Business Council opposes health care taxes in state budget (January 29, 2009)
• New York health insurance premiums continue to increase (November 28, 2007)
• Analysis finds Upstate's reliance on taxpayer-subsidized health insurance grows as employer-provided coverage shrinks (January 29, 2007)
• Governor Spitzer: Putting patients ahead of institutions will cut costs, improve quality in health care (January 26, 2007)
• Governor Spitzer's State of the State emphasizes economic revival and government reforms; The Governor's agenda addresses eight of 10 top priorities identified by Council members in a December survey (January 3, 2007)
• Governor Spitzer unveils broad 'Renew New York Agenda'; Initiative includes reforms to workers' comp and the Wicks Law, middle-class property-tax relief, and steps to increase energy supplies (January 2, 2007)

Hospital Quality Measurement

• Niagara Health Quality Coalition - NHQC.com
• New York State Hospital Profile

Reports & Publications

• Planning for 2009 H1N1 Influenza: A Preparedness Guide for Small Business, September 2009
• Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to the 2009 – 2010 Influenza Season, August 2009
• Hospital Myths, New York Hospital Finances: Another View
• Report warns state must reform Medicaid to avoid budget headache

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