Health Committee Archive

• Legislative Memo Archive
  
• MANDATED HEALTH INSURANCE: SO-CALLED WAL-MART BILLS
• Legislative session ends with defeat of infamous 'Wal-Mart' bills; Lawmakers also pass Council-supported bill to change workers' comp assessments (June 26, 2006)
  
  
• S.7090 / A.10583, The health-scare plan of 2006, Legislative memo in opposition
  
  
• Study: Controversial health-mandate proposal would cost tens of thousands of jobs, add a huge new business-tax burden, give little benefit to uninsured
  
  
• Council launches grass-roots campaign in opposition to health insurance mandates
  
  
• Grid with legislative proposals to mandate health insurance
  
  
• Maryland Chamber joins with retailers in challenging Maryland statute
  
  
• PANDEMIC FLU - Business Response Plans
• Information Letter from Daniel Walsh to Business Council members
  
  
• Pandemic Flu Business Packet
  
  
• ISSUES IN BRIEF - HEALTH CARE COSTS
  • Medicaid Reform
  • Health Care Reform Act
  • Freedom Health Plans
  • Mental Health Parity
    
    
• REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS
  • Hospital Myths, New York Hospital Finances: Another View
    
    
  • Report warns state must reform Medicaid to avoid budget headache
    
    
• COUNCIL 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)
• Extra business costs in New York total more than $35 billion, Public Policy Institute study finds (December 26, 2006)
  
  
• New Business Council survey: New York State employers say health-insurance costs and costs of workers' comp, energy, and business taxes are their top policy concerns (December 19, 2006)
  
  
• Key state commission recommends restructuring of New York's hospital and nursing-home systems 9/28/06
  
  
• Experts urge consumer choice in health care 9/29/2006
  
  
• Panel: controlling excess capacity is one way to bring state's health-care costs down 9/25/2006
  
  
• State's liability for retiree health care: $47 billion 8/21/06
  
  
• Massachusetts taxpayer advocate briefs Council on Bay State's health-insurance policy innovation 5/15/06
  
  
  
• Blue-ribbon commission's report documents trends in population, health care that show need to shrink capacity in health-care sector April 4, 2006
  
  
• Spitzer outlines a broad agenda for health-care policy change; he argues that New York can increase Medicaid enrollment and still cut costs January 18, 2006
  


• HEALTH COMMITTEE NEWS
• April 10, 2006
  
  
• HEALTH CARE REFORM ACT OF 2000 (HCRA)
  • Testimony of Daniel B. Walsh, February 16, 2005, Renewal and Revision of the Health Care Reform Act
    
    
  • Council testifies that HCRA reauthorization should include more accountability, less spending (January 11, 2005)
    
    
  • Information on the Health Care Reform Act
    
    
  • Summary of HCRA
    
    
• 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
• MEDICAID
  • New York Continues to be First in Nation in Per-capita Medicaid Spending (November 1, 2007)
    
    
  • Spitzer outlines a broad agenda for health-care policy change; he argues that New York can increase Medicaid enrollment and still cut costs (January 18, 2006)
    
    
  • New analysis shows New York spends more than twice the per-capita national average on Medicaid (January 13, 2006)
    
    
  • New York raised taxes more, cut Medicaid less than other states during budget crises, study finds (August 22, 2005)
    
    
  • Study: New York increased Medicaid spending despite sharp decline in tax revenue during recent economic slowdown (May 10, 2005)
    
    
  • Latest Medicaid Watch ’05 briefing paper shows other states are considering major reforms to Medicaid and asks: ‘Why shouldn’t New York?” (April 7, 2005)
    
    
  • No one knows whether New York's extra billions in Medicaid spending are paying off, report says 4/4/05
    
    
  • Health Care Reform Act initially slowed spending, but New York's hospital system is growing again, report shows
    
    
  • Medicaid spending on elderly is billions higher in New York, but care may not be better, report shows 3/28/05
    
    
  • Report: New York must control Medicaid's hospital spending 3/24/05
    
    
  • Business leaders, county executives, farmers rally for Medicaid reform in Albany 3/22/05
    
    
  • Report: To restrain Medicaid spending, New York should emulate Massachusetts 3/21/05
    
    
  • Report: New York's high Medicaid costs are driven by spending on "all of the above" 3/17/05
    
    
  • State Assemblyman Robin Schimminger (D-Kenmore) has introduced a nine-bill Medicaid reform package 3/3/05
    
    
  • New York State’s county officials, farmers, and business leaders hold two more rallies to urge Albany to give Medicaid relief to counties, taxpayers 3/2/05
    
    
  • New York State's county officials, farmers, and business leaders launch series of rallies to urge Albany to give Medicaid relief to counties, taxpayers 2/17/05
    
    
  • Walsh: New York's success enacting welfare reform proves that Medicaid reform is politically possible 2/1/05
    
    
  • Council: Report on threat of Medicaid-driven county tax hikes intensifies need for Medicaid reform in Albany 1/14/05
    
    
• MEDICARE PART D
• Creditable Coverage Disclosure Guide
  
  
• More than 27 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D
  
  
• HOSPITAL QUALITY MEASUREMENT
• Niagara Health Quality Coalition - NHQC.com
  
  
• New York State Hospital Profile