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Legislative Memos Issues Federal Health Care Reform Uninsured Medicaid Medicare Part D Council Health News Hospital Quality Measurement Related Web sites Archive

Health Care & Health Insurance Committee

Staff Contact: Margaret Moree

What's New

• 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
• PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute
  The price of excess
  Identifying waste in healthcare spending

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

Committee Updates

• March 3, 2009
  - Health Insurance Taxes in the State Budget: $348 million OK’ed by lawmakers, $400+ million more await action
  - Background on the Health Insurance Taxes
  - Meeting with Assemblyman Joe Morelle
  - Health IT on Next Business Council Health Committee Agenda
  - Senate Health Committee Chair – Senator Tom Duane
  

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-A (Duane)/ A.8278-A (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

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

Federal Health Care Reform

• Federal Health Care Reform in New York State
  
• 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

Council Health News

• 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