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The suddenly quickened pace to adjournment is putting pressure on health care reform participants to come to agreement sooner than later if legislators are to follow through on their promise for significant health care reform. Welch’s statement was seen by many to not only signal that adjournment is near, but also to pressure House health care reform conferees to accept a more moderate version of the bill as proposed by the Senate. The House had passed a bill that set in motion a single-payer, publicly financed health care system by the end of the decade. The Senate opted to provide a primary and preventive care benefit to the state’s uninsured financed through a payroll tax on uninsured employers and employees. The Senate proposal would wait for demonstrated savings from cost containment initiatives before expanding coverage further. The Senate proposed a modification to their payroll tax provision during a conference committee meeting last Friday, and is waiting for a House response today. The Douglas administration promised to be an active participant in negotiations on a bill, but has stuck to their plan to finance expanded coverage to the uninsured through a three percent premium tax on health insurers, including previously exempt non-profits like Blue Cross and Blue Shield and MVP Health Plan. That proposal has attracted little support among legislators and significant opposition from BCBSVT and MVP. An executive of MVP last week said his company would have to leave the state if it was not allowed to pass through any additional costs from a premium tax to its customers. Conferees met with Governor Douglas last Wednesday, but there is no apparent compromise in the works that could secure the Governor’s signature on a bill. However, there could be a substantial amount of behind the scenes activity this week if all parties decide a compromise bill is in their best interests. And the conference committee could lay over until next year if no agreement is reached and the legislature decides not to force a gubernatorial veto. For more information on legislative proposals, visit the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont website at www.bcbsvt.com or call Leigh Tofferi at (802) 223-6131 or Kathy Parry at (802) 371-3205. If you would prefer to receive these updates by FAX or e-mail, wish to discontinue receiving these updates or know of anyone else who would like to receive it, please call Kathy Parry at the above number or send an e-mail to webmail@bcbsvt.com |
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