health

CALIFORNIA: The 2011 version of a hospital transparency bill was unanimously voted out of the Senate Health Committee last week. The legislation would prohibit hospitals from including provisions, commonly referred to as "gag-clauses," in contracts with health insurers. These provisions prevent disclosure of hospital cost and quality information to health plan members. Individual hospital systems, the UC System and the California Hospital Association continue to oppose the bill, while insurers, payers and labor unions support the measure.  Also, the Senate Health Committee last week announced its new policy of making almost all benefit mandate proposals two-year bills. The Chair believes that the legislature should wait until the federal government defines essential health benefits under the ACA.  The only exception to this committee policy will be the maternity mandate bill, which the Chair believes is certain to be part of the essential benefits package.  There have been a dozen benefit mandates bills introduced this year.

COLORADO:  The Colorado General Assembly passed an insurance exchange bill after the Senate concurred to amendments added by the House. Passage of the bipartisan-sponsored bill is the culmination of nearly nine months of work that drew the support of the governor, business and the health insurance industry. Key bill provisions include:

Establishes an exchange as a nonprofit, unincorporated public entity

Designed to foster a competitive market, the exchange shall not solicit bids or engage in the active purchase of insurance

No duplication of Division of Insurance regulatory authority, including rate review

All carriers licensed in Colorado may be eligible to participate

Governed by a nine-member board of directors appointed by the governor and legislative leadership; plus three non-voting ex officio members

Majority of voting board members shall not be directly affiliated with the insurance industry

A legislative implementation review committee will review grant applications, financial and operational plans and have the ability to propose up to five bills per session

No separate state appropriation was made to fund the implementation

The bill does not address substantive issues such as the merging of the individual and small group markets or the size of eligible small employers.

CONNECTICUT: Governor Dannel Malloy last week signed a biennium budget bill, without a proposed increase in the premium tax. To avoid paying $50 million in retaliatory taxes to other states, insurers supported temporarily lowering the amount of premium tax credits that can be used, from 70 percent to 30 percent for two years.  The budget includes the tax credit measure, which will sunset in 2013 .

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