MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - A week after the Missouri House decidedly approved the managed care regulation bill, opponents haven't eased their drive to defeat the measure.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce brought mid-Missouri employers to the statehouse Wednesday, said Chamber lobbyist Dan Mehan. They lobbied Senate leadership on the bill, which would unify the way managed care providers operate.
Mehan said the Chamber of Commerce's objective is not to defeat the bill, but rather to pass a bill that appeals to business interests as well as medical professionals and consumers.
"We're going to end up with a managed care bill," Mehan said. "We just want to have a good consumer piece."
Some opponents say passing the HMO regulation package would raise health care costs to a point that would force more Missourians to be uninsured.
"If we increase costs even just a little bit, that means small business drops health coverage," said Rep. Scott Lakin, D-Kansas City. "Right now, we have an increased uninsured rate in Missouri."
Lakin noted that health care costs in the state are already going up because of newly imposed federal regulations, including welfare reform and legislation known as Kennedy-Kassebaum. That requires states to implement a plan to make health insurance more portable when employees change jobs.
Mehan cited statistics from the consulting firm Foster Higgins that show nationwide health care costs to employers increasing at a progressively lower rate over the past decade.
The Chamber of Commerce's biggest concern with the regulation package is rising health care costs to business owners and their employees, Mehan said, noting that cost changes may affect certain employers in different ways.
Many opponents of the regulation package do support portions of the proposal. Rep. Ron Auer, who voted against the bill, agreed with Lakin and Mehan in supporting eliminating gag orders on doctors.
The bill would prohibit health maintenance organization from imposing limits on physicians regarding what they can and cannot tell their patients about treatment options.
Aside from medical directors and other non-practicing physicians who work in managed care companies, there has been little opposition from medical practitioners, said Sen. Marvin Singleton, R-Joplin. Singleton, a physician, supports the regulation package.
"Basically, what's in the legislation is common sense stuff," Singleton said. "That's why there's not a whole lot of opposition in the medical community."