Dear Members of the CKF and FCA coalitions,
As many of you already know, HB 133, Health System Reform, passed
unanimously out of the House on Friday afternoon. The provision in the bill
that will disqualify children from CHIP whose parents are eligible for an
enroll in the Utah Premium Partnership was amended
<
http://le.utah.gov/~2008/pamend/hb0133s01.hfap.07.htm> so as to monitor
that these children will receive ".appropriate and effective coverage."
Voices for Utah Children issued press
<
http://www.utahchildren.org/documents/ForImmediateRelease.pdf> release
Friday commenting on the bill and the positive impact the amendment will
have.
Below is the article published by The Salt Lake Tribune regarding the
passing of HB 133.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Voices for Utah
Children.
--Jerry
Bill won't provide Utah health care reform just yet
But the measure would create a task force to develop path to improvement
By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune
On Friday, the House unanimously passed a bill that calls for a
legislative task force to develop a reform plan by November. HB133 now moves
to the Senate.
Earlier versions of the bill - which were abandoned before it was widely
released - would have mandated Utahns have health insurance by 2010 and
called for new insurance plans to cover all comers without charging higher
premiums based on medical history. And it would have taxed hospitals to
generate $300 million in state and federal funds to help the poor buy
private insurance.
But conservative lawmakers recoiled at the mandates. And the Utah Health
Insurance Association balked, saying the earlier versions focused too much
on providing access instead of cutting wasteful spending first.
Even before the House voted Friday, the bill's passage was a fait
accompli. Forty-one House Republicans signed on as co-sponsors. And Gov. Jon
Huntsman Jr. held a news conference to laud the bill, flanked by a roomful
of Republican and Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate, reform
advocates, insurance and hospital executives and business leaders.
"What we do here as leaders in this state is always the art of the
possible. . . . It isn't the art of the perfect," said Huntsman, who
supports an individual mandate. The bill, he said, "in a very real way
creates a framework for systemic reform going forward, make no mistake about
it."
During the House floor debate, lawmaker after lawmaker stood in support
of what they called an ambitious path to reform.
"We need to send a message to Washington, D.C., to get out of the
health-care business and let individuals take care of it themselves," said
Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland.
"Is this a perfect bill? No, it is not," said Rep. Phil Riesen,
D-Holladay. "It's a good start. Is it important we begin the process of
reforming health care in this state now? Absolutely."
Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, said the eventual reform plan will
emphasize "individual accountability" and "market-based forces." The bill's
sponsor, he anticipates it will take 10 years to fully implement.
HB133 directs Huntsman's office to assist the Legislature in developing
a reform plan. In creating the plan, state officials would consider allowing
insurance companies to develop plans that, among other things, would be
portable from job to job, could be exempt from certain state regulations,
and would provide a minimum level of coverage to be cheaper than current
plans.
The task force also would study several items including individual
mandates, ways to end the practice of the insured paying for the uninsured
through emergency hospital visits, expanding entitlement programs, the
possibility of protecting doctors from liability claims if they follow
to-be-determined best practices, and the possibility of taxing doctors and
hospitals to subsidize private insurance for the poor.
The bill also says the new insurance plans would incorporate practices
"that will sustain a viable insurance market."
"The last thing we want to do is go out and jeopardize the system we
have right now," Clark said, noting 2.1 million Utahns now have insurance
through their employers.
But one of the few opponents of the legislation says such protections
ensure the legislation is a "no insurance company left behind" bill.
"It's just not worth doing. The emperor has no clothes," Joseph Jarvis,
a doctor who recently quit as board chairman of the Utah Health Policy
Project, said this week.
The project, which advocates for health care reform, supports the bill.
While health care reform advocates and business leaders had privately
complained that the efforts resulted in a task force, few are willing to
publicly criticize the bill.
Explaining the initial lack of Democratic co-sponsors, House Minority
Leader Brad King said Democrats had been concerned about one controversial
portion that Clark later amended.
It directs the state to seek a federal waiver to move some low-income
children from the heavily subsidized Children's Health Insurance Program to
the private market, with some subsidies to help their families pay premiums.
Low-income advocates fear that could result in worse insurance coverage
for kids. The waiver will still be pursued, but Clark agreed to study the
impact.
"Rep. Clark has gone out of his way to ensure the community supports
this bill," said Karen Crompton, executive director for Voices for Utah
Children.
__________________________________________
Jerry Cochran
Health Policy Analyst
Voices for Utah Children
747 East South Temple, Suite 100
Salt Lake City, Utah 84102
801-364-1182 (T)
801-364-1186 (F)
jerry@???
