Senate votes to end health insurance statements
14 03 08 - 12:06
Friday, March 14, 2008
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Small businesses won't have to distribute, and workers won't have to fill out, those health statements asking them about their health conditions, if a bill passed by the Senate Thursday becomes law.
Senate Bill 468 would eliminate the statements, which are filled out so an employer's insurance company can assess its risk involving the possibility of whether an employee would file claims that would require it to draw on the high-risk pool. Instead of insurance companies, the reinsurance pool would simply pay all claims once they exceed $200,000.
Supporters of the bill said that only large insurance companies with sophisticated underwriting systems can take advantage of such risk assessment procedures, and the statements were intrusive. This way, they argued, the employers would pay into the pool for actual costs, not risk assessments, cutting costs.
Smaller insurers have said they might leave the state because they don't feel that they have the resources to invest what is needed to get access to such a small market, said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-Durham.
"The point is to spread risk, not reward insurers that are good at predicting the risk," she said.
Opponents said that insurance companies can use these statements to control risk and costs, and the measure would increase small business premiums.
"We passed this three years ago to save costs," said Sen. Ted Gatsas, R-Manchester. "With this bill we might as well abolish it."
The Senate passed the bill, 15-9, sending it to the House.
In other business, the Senate passed bills that would:
. Allow chambers of commerce to get a piece of the action of Texas Hold-'Em tournaments, which are currently only restricted for the benefit of charities. Thee House rejected similar legislation earlier.
. Make it a class B felony if a corporate officer fails to secure payment of workers' compensation premiums (it is currently a misdemeanor). The bill also would ban violators from state projects for at least one year and as many as three years.
. Allow the Department of Health and Human Services to fine restaurants at least $100 per violation for allowing patrons to smoke.
. Allow cable companies to compete against phone companies in rural areas, provided that the Public Utilities Commission finds that there are no technical problems in doing so.
. Update a toxic packaging law so it would conform to those in other states, making it easier for manufacturers to comply.
. Require that all health facilities conduct for key employees the same criminal checks that nursing homes currently have to.
. Require that health facilities include data from uninsured people as well as insured people when seeking reimbursement, so that the state can get a handle on the true impact of the uninsured on overall health-care costs.
. Prohibit persons from engaging in undue influence on a real estate appraiser concerning a mortgage.
The Senate also killed bills that would:
. Abolish fractional gasoline prices and take into account how heat accounts for volume. Opponents argued that this should be done at the federal level and would cost gas stations too much to comply.
. Allow a nursing home to sell excess beds (or rather funding for such beds) to another that needs it more. Opponents said that a nursing home bed should not be a commodity, and this is a way to try to circumvent allocating beds on the bases of need. - BOB SANDERS/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW