The Mental Health Parity Act was passed in the House by a vote of 119 to 26 on Monday, June 30th. MassAHU's stance to not support the House bill version was based upon the following:
*Adding new mandates will increase the cost of health care for employers and runs counter to the need to control costs. In the face of a slowing economy, we felt that now is not the time to add new costs onto employers. The focus needs to be on controlling costs, which this bill does not do.
*The Mandate Review Law and the Mandate Moratorium were important priorities to the business community. MassAHU is concerned that the law and moratorium are being ignored and we urged the Speaker to take no action on H-4423.
*Members of MassAHU are the licensed, independent health care professionals, in the front lines helping employers in making decisions as to their health care needs and they see how their employers, their clients are struggling with costs to provide benefits to their employees.

MassAHU wants Health Care Reform to succeed but don't believe that passage of the Mental Health mandate bill is the direction that the Legislature should take.

The Senate is expected to conside the bill before formal session end on July 31st.

Other Legislative Updates........................

• MassAHU also supported Rep. Frank Hynes' amendment to the House Budget, which would have removed the mandate for purchasing prescription drug coverage from the Health Connector as part of the Minimum Creditable Coverage.  The amendment was not adopted.
• Senate Budget, it appears that  Sen. Moore's amendment that would increase the HCC&QC's budget from $1.4 Million to $2.3 Million was adopted. MassAHU supported this amendment along with MAHP, the AG, the State Auditor and the Inspector General.
• MassAHUPAC has been established to support candidates and incumbents who are interested in the concerns and needs of independent employee benefit brokers who deal in the area of health benefits and long term care insurance.
• Advocacy through the legislative process and MassAHU’s lobbying efforts:
  • Amendment: Senator Moore's amendment that would increase the HCC&QC's budget from $1.4 Million to $2.3 Million was adopted. MassAHU supported this amendment along with MAHP, the AG, the State Auditor and the Inspector General.
  • Amendment: MassAHU supported Rep. Frank Hynes' amendment to the House Budget, which would have removed the mandate for purchasing prescription drug coverage as part of the Minimum Creditable Coverage.  The amendment was not adopted.
  • S-2660, The Senate President's bill, An Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the delivery of Quality Health Care, which MassAHU supported, passed the Senate but the House has yet to take any action on this bill to date. This legislation (also known as HCR II), addresses the critical areas of primary care access, transparency and efficient use of resources and technology to help drive down  escalating costs within the health care system. This bill is currently in the House, Ways and Means Committee.
  • S-2367 An Act to Establish Standards for LTC Insurance - MassAHU testified in favor of this legislation which is based upon the NAIC model Long Term Care Act. This bill has passed the Senate and currently in the House, Ways and Means Committee.
  • S-2426, Chapter 205 of the Acts of 2007, the Health Care Access
    Technical Corrections Bill – this bill regulates health care access to data, provides for a health disparities council within the executive office of health and human services to eliminate disparities in health care related diagnosis. Although not successful in amending the bill to include a 6 month crowd out provision – a technical correction addressing the Connector to not “seek” employers already providing ESI for Commonwealth Choice products, as a result of MassAHU’s lobbying efforts, we were successful in getting a special legislative commission established that would monitor the activities of the Health Care Connector, in order to avoid duplication of efforts in the marketplace.
  • H-4144 now Chapter 82 of the Acts of 2007, the  Identity Theft Bill – was part of a coalition of organizations representing physicians, hospitals, health plans and information technology (IT) groups with regard to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Professional Licensures efforts to develop a consensus ID Theft Bill.
  • H-1004, An Act Relative to a LTC Partnership Program - MassAHU testified in favor of this bill. If signed into law, this partnership program would allow MA to join other states across the nation who has enacted standards for long term care insurance and partnership programs. MassAHU testified in favor of this bill. This bill, however, has been placed into a Study Order.