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How to Track a Legislative Bill
Summary of 2010 Healthcare-Related Bills in the Connecticut General Assembly
Raised Bill 252 - An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Data Reporting
Raised Bill 14 - An Act Prohibiting Copayments for Preventive Care
The Connecticut General Assembly

Legislative News
How to Track a Legislative Bill

To check the status of a piece of legislation, locate a public act, find your legislator, or just check the days events at the State Capitol, all you need to do is click on www.cga.state.ct.us or click on the Connecticut General Assembly link on the CMGMA homepage – www.cmgma.org. Once on the Connecticut General Assembly website, you will notice an empty box at the top of the screen that states “Number”. Just fill in the bill number that you are looking for and you will be connected to that bill. Once on the bill’s page, click on the most recent copy of the bill and there you will have the most up-to-date copy of the bill.

For your convenience, we have listed many of the bills that we are tracking for CMGMA. This is not a complete listing of the bills as the list changes daily as new bills are introduced and other are acted upon. If you have any questions on the bill that are listed below, please do not hesitate to contact the CMGMA office at info@cmgma.org or at 860-243-3977.

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Summary of 2010 Healthcare-Related Bills in the Connecticut General Assembly
 
The following are brief summaries of some of the bills before the Connecticut General Assembly for the 2010 legislative consideration. See www.cga.ct.gov for more information or details.

House Bill 5004 - An Act Concerning Transparency in Health Insurance Claims Data. Purpose: To require insurers to disclose to certain employers upon request certain claims data.

House Bill 5258 - An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Program Review and Investigations Committee Concerning Scope of Practice Determinations for Healthcare Professionals. Purpose: To implement the recommendations of the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee concerning scope of practice determinations for health care professionals. The recommendations include the creation of a standardized process with the Department of Public Health to determine scope of practice changes.

House Bill 5235 - An Act Concerning Evidence of Noncoverage of Health Insurance. Purpose: To require insurers and other entities, in the event of a denial based on the reason that the requested service is not a covered benefit, to mail to an insured a copy of the applicable provision of the policy or certificate governing such decision, and to include in such mailing a notice with the contact information of the Insurance Department and the Office of the Healthcare Advocate.

Senate Bill 12 - An Act Clarifying Postclaims Underwriting. Purpose: To distinguish short-term health insurance policies from those having a duration of one year or more for the purpose of the Insurance Commissioner’s approval of rescinding, canceling, or limiting a policy, to limit the scope of an investigation into a suspected preexisting condition and to specify requirements for insurers or health care centers that accept telephonic applications for individual health insurance coverage.

Senate Bill 14 - An Act Prohibiting Co-payments for Preventive Care. Purpose: To promote the health of Connecticut residents by prohibiting co-payments, deductibles, or other out of pocket expenses for preventive care services (i.e., annual physicals, prenatal/well-child visits, immunizations, tobacco cessation, obesity weight loss programs). 

Senate Bill 15 - An Act Concerning Prescription Drug Co-payments. Purpose: To require any co-payment required by an individual or group health insurance policy for prescription drugs to be the same regardless of whether such drugs are obtained through a retail pharmacy or through a mail order pharmacy.

Senate Bill 17 - An Act Concerning Health Care Provider Rental Network Contract Arrangements. Purpose: To require listings of covered entities be updated at least every 90 days, to prohibit covered entities from granting subsequent access to third parties to health care services, discounted rates or fees established in contracts between health care providers and contracting entities, and to specify that violations are deemed unfair or deceptive insurance practices under section 38a-816 of the general statutes.

Senate Bill No. 51 - An Act Concerning Machine-Readable Medical Benefits Identification Cards.  Purpose: To require the issuance of machine-readable medical benefits identification cards and scanner devices to read or access such cards.

Senate Bill 52 - An Act Concerning Proof of Health Insurance Coverage for Children. Purpose: To reduce the number of uninsured children in this state. 

Senate Bill 130 - An Act Concerning Cancelled Doctors’ Appointments. Purpose: To protect patients by requiring physicians and medical practices to post notice relating to missed appointment fees.

Senate Bill 192 - An Act concerning APRNs and Primary Care Providers for Individual or Group Health Insurance Policies. Purpose: To allow an insured or certificate holder to designate a participating, in-network physician or APRN as such insured’s or certificate holder’s primary care provider

Senate Bill 222 - An Act Concerning Complaints Pending in DPH Against Physicians and Certain Other Healthcare Provider and Establishing a Mediation Program for Medical Malpractice Actions. Purpose: To permit a person who files a complaint with DPH alleging incompetence, negligence, fraud or deceit by a HCP to obtain information about the status of the complaint, notice of final disposition of the complaint, and to establish a mediation program for medical malpractice actions

Senate Bill 252 - An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Data Reporting. Purpose:  To expand professional liability insurance closed claim reporting requirements, grant the Insurance Commissioner the authority to fine entities that fail to submit reports as required and add confidentiality provisions.   

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Raised Bill 252 - An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Data Reporting
  
Statement Concerning 
Raised Bill 252 – An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Data Reporting
Public Health Committee
March 4, 2010

The Connecticut Medical Group Management Association submits this statement concerning Raised Bill 252 - An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Data Reporting. 

The bill before you would expand professional liability insurance closed claim reporting requirements, grant the Insurance Commissioner the authority to fine entities that fail to submit reports as required and add confidentiality provisions. Our main concern with the bill is its definition of a “closed claim”. The bill defines a closed claim as a claim that has been settled or otherwise disposed by the insuring entity, self-insurer or health care provider, where all indemnity and expense payments have been made.   A claim may be closed with or without an indemnity payment to a claimant. We interpret this to mean that a “closed claim” could be the “write off” of a balance due from the patient and that this would then be “reportable”.  This is problematic for physician offices as physicians sometimes forgive balances due from patients for reasons unrelated to a professional liability issues. 

 In recent years, the citizens of the State of Connecticut have faced increasing financial hardship due to rising rates of unemployment, increases in the rate of personal bankruptcy, the rising cost of health insurance as well as the prevalence of high deductible health plans. In this environment it is increasingly common for physicians to forgive patient balances due to a patient’s financial hardship, particularly in the context of a patient suffering from a debilitating or terminal disease. Further, it would be difficult to retroactively determine why a claim was closed.

We are concerned that, as written, the legislation would have the unintended effect of causing physicians to be less likely to forgive balances due from patients who find themselves dealing with financial hardship. While we do not believe that this was the intent of the legislation, it may be the effect. We hope that this Committee will consider clarifying the definition.  

 For more information, please call:
Lisa Edwards, MBA, CMPE, Legislative Chair
Mark Schuman, Executive Vice President
Melissa Dempsey, Director of Government Relations
(860) 243-3977 
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Raised Bill 14 - An Act Prohibiting Copayments for Preventive Care

  

Statement concerning
Raised Bill 14 – An Act Prohibiting Copayments for Preventive Care
Insurance and Real Estate Committee
February 11, 2010

This statement is being submitted on behalf of the members of the Connecticut Medical Group Management Association on Raised Bill 14 – An Act Prohibiting Co-payments for Preventive Care.

Raised Bill 14 prohibits managed care companies from imposing a copayment, deductible or other out-of-pocket expense for preventive care services. This would include charges for annual physicals and periodic health evaluations, including tests and diagnostic procedures ordered in connection with routine examinations such as annual physicals; routine prenatal and well-child care; child and adult immunizations; tobacco cessation programs; and obesity weight-loss programs. As medical practice managers, we believe this to be a good idea as research has shown that increased cost sharing discourages people from seeking necessary care, but we do have one concern.   The bill before you does not specify what happens when managed care companies are prohibited from requiring the copayment – does the physician lose that payment and bare the economic brunt or does the managed care company reimburse the physician? We ask that before passing this bill out of committee, you clarify this point. To ask physicians to bare the financial brunt of this bill is unfair given the financial lose that physicians currently take on Medicaid, Medicare and dually eligible patients and even patients who have private insurance whose claims are routinely denied.

We look forward to working with this Committee throughout the 2010 session to help guarantee the best possible health care for all Connecticut patients.
 
For more information, please call:
 Mark Schuman, Executive Vice President
Melissa Dempsey, Government Relations
 860-243-3977
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The Connecticut General Assembly
 
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