The second half of the 2007 - 2008 Legislative Session is well underway.  With formal sessions of the Legislature scheduled to end July 31st, much work remains for the Legislature on many fronts and time is of the essence.  MassAHU and its members continue to monitor and follow very closely the on-going implementation of health care reform.  Senate President Therese Murray recently filed major health care legislation that she said "will make Massachusetts a national leader in the statewide adoption of electronic medical records and the first in the country to impose an outright ban on pharmaceutical marketing gifts of any value".  The bill, S-2526, An Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery of Quality Health Care, also addresses the critical areas of primary care access, transparency and efficient use of resources and technology to drive down the escalating costs of the health care system.  In her announcement of the filing of the legislation, the Senate President also stated that "Our efforts today are crucial to the future vitality of our health care system and our economy..."  Senator Richard Moore, the Senate Co-Chair of the Committee on Healthcare Financing referred to the legislation as Health Care Reform II and said that "If we expect to realize the full promise of the state's landmark health reform law - to achieve universal health coverage with safe, high quality and affordable care for all - this bill is vital." There will be a public hearing before the Committee on Healthcare Financing on March 12th at 1:00 pm in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House.

 

Major areas of health care that S-2526 addresses are: Improve Access to Primary Care Services; Enhance Transparency of Health Care Costs and Quality; Encourage Adoption of Health Information Technology and Promote the Efficient Use fo Health Care Resources.  As I see it, the major thrust of this health care legislation is to drive down the costs of the health care system with the transparency provisions of the bill being the key component.  This bill is certainly consistent with the position of MassAHU on Health Care Reform.  MassAHU believes that it is increasingly more important than ever that the consumer have information necessary to make informed decisions about quality and cost of medical care.  We support the accessibility of such information for all Massachusetts consumers, which will lead to more responsible and informed utilization of health care, appropriate pricing of medical services, the ability to research costs before incurring medical expenses and ultimately will result in better pricing of health insurance.

 

The renewal of the state's Medicaid waiver is another step that needs to be accomplished to insure the success of health care reform. Governor Deval Patrick and Senator Edward Kennedy began this renewal process last week in Washington when they met with Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services.

 

Two other pieces of legislation that MassAHU supports and hopefully will secure passage before the formal sessions end in July are: S-2367 An Act to Establish Standards for Long Term Care Insurance and  H-1004 An Act Relative to a Long Term Care Partnership Program.  MassAHU testified in favor of both bills that were heard before the Committee on Financial Services.  The Senate has already passed S-2367 and which is now in the House, Ways & Means Committee.  This bill is based upon the NAIC LTC Model Act and if enacted into law, would allow Massachusetts to join with other states who have enacted standards for long term care insurance and would enhance the role of the Division of Insurance in evaluating rate adequacy and reporting requirements by insurance carriers.  The second bill that, we believe, goes hand in hand with the long term care standards bill, is H-1004 that addresses the LTC Partnership Program.  This legislation would allow us to join with the other states who have enacted a qualified Partnership program that allows consumers to protect their assets by purchasing a qualified long term care insurance policy and thereby not drain their own assets as well as the Medicaid program.  In addition, enacting a state long term care insurance Partnership would allow Massachusetts reciprocity with the other states who have already enacted a Partnership program.