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Senate leaders release comprehensive effort to reform health care

Bill offers market reforms, targeted investments and long-range savings

November 8, 2005 - Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, Senate Ways and Means Chair Therese Murray, and Senate Health Care Financing Chair Richard T. Moore announced today that the Senate will take action on Wednesday to build incrementally to full health care coverage for the people of Massachusetts. The Senate legislation aims to secure health coverage for half of the 530,000 uninsured within two years. The Senate initiative also takes the important steps in controlling spiraling health care costs, makes targeted investments to expand access and institutes reforms to improve the delivery and quality of medical care. Though not as expansive or expensive as the plan recently adopted by the House, Senate leaders believe that their plan is affordable and can be sustained in the future despite uncertainties in the economy or federal funding.

“In the decade since the last major reform of health care, Massachusetts has made significant strides in reducing the number of its citizens without health insurance,” said Moore. “Under the Senate President’s leadership, the Senate has produced a bill that expands access to health care in a financially responsible way.”

The Senate Proposal scheduled to be released by the Senate Ways and Means Committee tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8, 2005 was co-sponsored by the Senate President, Senate Ways & Means Chair, Senator Therese Murray, Health Care Financing Chair, Senator Richard T. Moore and Community Development and Small Business Chair, Senator Harriette L. Chandler. It adopts the following multi-pronged approach in fixing the Commonwealth's existing health care system so that it continues to take care of the sick, the poor and the uninsured without new taxes or employer mandates.

MAJOR GOALS:

  • Cover half of the uninsured in Massachusetts over the next two years. 
  • Reduce the cost of health care for consumers, businesses, and taxpayers. 
  • Empower consumers through expanded choice, quality care and transparency of comparative information. 
  • Continue to invest in health care, a key component of our state’s economy. 
  • Preserve economic stability and competitiveness 
  • No tax hikes or broad-based employer mandates – the reform plan seeks to cover half of the uninsured in two years without increasing taxes or requiring employers to pay for insurance coverage other than for care used by uninsured employees.

KEY ELEMENTS:

Market Reforms & Costs

There are 170,000 people in Massachusetts who cannot afford health insurance. The Senate's answer is to give private insurers more flexibility to offer a broader range of products by: 

  • Loosening restrictions on insurance plans and creating incentives to offer affordable health care.
  • Requiring health plans to offer coverage to young adults up to age 25 
  • Offering individuals a tax deduction for health savings accounts. 
  • Placing a moratorium on mandated benefits and study whether health insurance should be required. 
  • Study whether all people should be required to purchase health insurance. 
  • Invest $5 million for Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems initiative.

Targeted Investments

The Senate will invest in a three-year campaign to expand coverage and improve access to health care coverage with an initial infusion of $168 million toward: 

  • Reforming the Insurance Partnership to help self-employed and small business employees (businesses with 75 or fewer employees). 
  • Boosting Medicaid Rates for hospitals, health centers and doctors to end cost-shifting, pay our fair share and remain competitive. 
  • Expanding Medicaid enrollment for over 110,000 who are eligible but unenrolled. 
  • Cover Children up to 300% FPL (approx. 37,000 children). 
  • Cover Mass Health Essential Population (adding approx. 16,000 individuals). 
  • Common Health Expansion (1,600 individuals) 
  • HIV/AIDS population coverage (approx. 250 individuals)
  • Instituting a free-rider surcharge on employers and employees who game the free care pool. 

Prevent unfair use of taxpayer dollars by assessing large employers who do not offer health insurance to recover the cost of any Free Care Pool services used by their employees. Employees who decline employer-offered health insurance and use the Pool will also be assessed. Money recovered will be invested in a reinsurance pool for catastrophic costs for small and non-group markets, helping market-based reforms to work and reducing costs for everyone.

Long-term Savings and Public Health

Cutting double digit inflation in health care costs will take time. The Senate invests in programs to improve health care quality and improve efficiencies to reduce costs over the long term by: 

  • Restoring funds for prevention program like cancer screening. (See below) 
  • Establishing a State Board and website to allow consumers to compare costs, quality, and benefits from different hospitals and providers to enable consumers to find the most efficient quality care. 
  • Require hospitals to adopt voluntary safe staffing levels for interns, resident and fellows. 
  • Streamlined and expedited process for hospitals to acquire new technologies. 
  • Promote long-term care insurance with consumer protections and other measures.
  • Investments in Prevention included in the Senate Bill:

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