States take measured approach to health-care legislation.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)

Publication: Medicine & Health

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States passed only eight new coverage mandates in the most recent legislative session, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association reported June 24 in its mid-year "state of the states" reports.

"This is a huge falling off," the Blues' Susan Laudicina said in briefing reporters on the session, which she said had concluded for two-thirds of state legislatures. Twenty-five new mandates passed last year, and even that "was below historical averages," so this year's total going lower yet means "a lot of lawmakers are being very cautious about doing anything that could cause prices to rise," said Laudicina, the BCBSA's director of state legislative services.

Laudicina said no states passed new laws allowing providers to engage in collective bargaining with health plans. She also noted that no additional states had enacted legislation allowing consumers to sue their health plans, "and that was even before the Supreme Court's Davila ruling" that the Texas health-plan liability stature was pre-empted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

* States Focused On Expanding Coverage Vehicles, Say Blues. Overall, "relatively few health care laws were enacted this year, especially compared with recent years," Laudicina said. Among the bills that did pass, "the most popular reform was improving access to private health insurance, through such means as strengthening medical high-risk pools and giving consumers new insurance products to choose from."

West Virginia became the 33rd state to establish a high-risk pool, the Blues reported. In addition, six more states amended their laws to make their high-risk pools "qualified health plans" under the federal Trade Adjustment Act, bringing to 15 the number of states where high-risk pool enrollees are eligible for TAA tax credits.

The Blues said three states provided...

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