2010 HEALTH POSITION SUMMARY

Ideas to Help Reduce Costs

1. Meaningful Tort Reform: Pennsylvania has paved the way with venue legislation and expert witness qualifications for medical malpractice tort reform but those are not enough. Joint and several liability should be replaced with a standard of comparative negligence.

2. Allow for treatment price transparency by having the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) post pricing on the Internet. This will help make pricing more competitive because consumers will see what the costs really are.

3. For any government or subsidized plan, require mandatory Generic Drugs when they are available.

4. [Ask the legislature to revisit all of Pennsylvania's mandates to determine whether they are costs we really need to incur.] As a mandate rich state, our medical costs are forced higher. [than states without as many mandates] PA should mandate that any proposed health benefit mandate be reviewed by the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) and that if disapproved, the proposed mandate would have a six-month pause before future legislative action could occur. As part of this, PHC4 budget would be increased to allow use of its own (or contracted) actuaries (Right now it has to rely on others' data.) . Phc4 teeth

5. Form responsible panels of Health Care Providers that can address real ways to reduce costs in their industry. Encourage medical providers to restructure where it makes sense to deliver service from a lower cost professional. Allow the providers to keep a portion of the savings as a reward for implementing the more cost effective systems. Protect providers who make these (approved) adjustments from lawsuits. Hands tied quod mm way

6. Impose significant penalties for those that misuse the emergency room. The misuse not only costs us more money but prevents those with a true emergency to receive timely care.


Contact: Vince Phillips, Lobbyist - Pennsylvania Association Health Underwriters
Office: 717/232-0022 FAX 717/232-7005
E-mail: xenobun@aol.com  or vince@vphillipsassoc.com