Massachusetts Senate President Proposes Legislation Aimed At Controlling State Health Care Costs

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health;  Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 05 Mar 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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Massachusetts state Senate President Therese Murray (D) on Monday introduced health care legislation that aims to control rising health care costs in the state, including a measure that would ban all gifts to physicians from pharmaceutical companies, the Boston Herald reports. Murray said the legislation is the next step in the state's effort to establish universal health coverage (Ross, Boston Herald, 3/4).

The legislation would be the first in the nation to ban all gifts to physicians, according to Peggy Kearns, director of the ethics center at the National Conference of State Legislatures, although other states have passed laws aimed at limiting the ability of the pharmaceutical industry to influence doctors. The measure would prohibit drug companies from giving -- and physicians, their families or employees from receiving -- gifts, including payments, entertainment, meals, travel, honorariums, subscriptions and even small items such as pens. The measure would allow distribution of drug samples to doctors for the exclusive use of the patients. Violators of the ban would face fines of up to $5,000, two years imprisonment or both.

The legislation introduced by Murray also includes provisions that would require all state physicians to adopt electronic health records by 2015, allow patients to choose nurse practitioners as primary care providers and require public reviews of insurance company efforts to increase annual premiums by more than 7%.

Murray said, "There's going to be a climate change, and there has to be a climate change; otherwise, our health care reform will implode, just under the costs" (Woolhouse, Boston Globe, 3/4). She added, "There has been a 60% increase in the last six years in health care costs. We cannot sustain that." Murray and colleagues said they will attempt to fast track the bill and win approval by July. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for March 12 (Boston Herald, 3/4).

Free Care Pool Use Declines
In related news, use of Massachusetts' "free care pool" declined by 16% in fiscal year 2007, according to new state figures, the Boston Globe reports. The free care pool pays for medically necessary services for people who are uninsured or underinsured. The pool paid for 1.9 million visits in 2006, according to Sarah Iselin, commissioner of the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.

Iselin attributed the reduction to the state's health insurance law, which has shifted uninsured residents to Medicaid or the state's Commonwealth Care program. About 200,000 low-income residents have obtained coverage since the law took effect, according to state figures.

The state did not save any money on the pool in the last fiscal year because it based payments on the previous year. However, state officials expect savings of $240 million in FY 2008. The overall decline in free care spending projected through FY 2009 is about $140 million less than the state Legislature anticipated when it passed the health care law in April 2006.

The state is "counting on using former free care funds to help pay for soaring insurance subsidies," according to the Globe. The state estimates Commonwealth Care subsidies will total $869 million in FY 2009 as enrollment increases (Dembner, Boston Globe, 3/3).

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