SIIA Legislative Update – healthcare legislation update

President Obama and congressional leaders completed negotiations on an effort to enact a massive spending and tax-policy package to assist with the goal of economic improvement and job-creation. The final bill was signed into law by President Obama today in Denver, Colorado.

Over the past three weeks, SIIA lobbyists have been talking to their Capitol Hill contacts to uncover the specific details of the reconciled package. This communication will update you on provisions within the legislation related to health care.

COBRA Extension:

$24.7 Billion – The package includes a 60% subsidy for recently laid-off workers for up to 9 months. The provision would apply to workers who were "involuntarily terminated" between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009, and whose annual incomes do not exceed $125,000 for individuals or $250,000 for families. SIIA was part of an effort that was successfully able to remove provisions which would have expanded COBRA eligibility to anyone between the ages of 55-64 and anyone who had been employed by their employer for more than 10 years.

Comparative Effectiveness Board:

$1.1 Billion – Package will set up and fund a National Comparative Effectiveness Research Board that will establish a federal standard of care for healthcare. Specifically, the Board would deem procedures and treatments as ‘ineffective or too-costly’. Creation of this Board could result in the prohibition of any “expensive” treatment practice and would take many decisions away from doctors and patients. While the initial provisions only call for the Board to make treatment decisions on publicly funded plans, the potential is there through the tax code for decisions to eventually apply to any plan exempt from income for tax purposes – employer-sponsored plans. Throughout the process, SIIA has been stressing the potential negative consequences of this provision. 

Health Information Technology (HIT):

$19 Billion – Package includes funding for investments and incentives through Medicare and Medicaid for grants and loans to providers to expand the use of HIT. The Federal government would take the lead on establishing ‘interoperability standards’ for such a system. While SIIA has called for the advancement of HIT as a cost-containment measure in our Blueprint for our healthcare system, we have been, and will continue to emphasize, that any system that moves forward protects the privacy of patients as well as does not take treatment decisions away from providers.

 Additional Healthcare Provisions:

·        $87 Billion – Additional Medicaid funds for States
·        $10 Billion – Funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
·        $1 Billion – Funding for prevention and wellness programs 

A session has been added to SIIA’s upcoming Legislative/Regulatory Conference to provide additional information on this legislation. If you have not already done so, you can register for the conference on-line at www.siia.org. Should you have any questions in the meantime, please call SIIA’s government relations office at 202/463-8161. 

Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc.