Physicians Urged to Support Managed Care Reform in State Budget

Physicians are urged to contact their legislators to express support for an item contained within the Governor’s proposed Budget that would reinstitute the requirement that the New York State Insurance Department review and approve requests by health insurers to increase the premiums they charge as well as requiring health insurers to maintain an 85% minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) for the small group and individual health insurance policies they underwrite. Mandating closer oversight by the SID and increasing the MLR will reduce the incentive of health plans to divert health insurance premium dollars to excessive administration expenses or profit, and better assure that such premium dollars are used to pay fairly for patients’ needed health care. It would also help to further contain the costs of health insurance that physicians themselves pay to provide health insurance for their employees.

Not surprisingly, this prior approval/minimum MLR proposal is being strongly opposed by the health insurance industry. The industry has been running television advertisements across New York State urging the Legislature to reject this proposal.

MSSNY has written to the Legislature indicating its strong support for this measure. Included in the support memo was reference to a recent study that indicated that the five largest health insurers in the country, United, WellPoint, Aetna, Cigna and Humana, generated $12.2 Billion in profits in 2009, up 56% in 2008. Moreover, just this past December, Governor David Paterson and Superintendent James Wrynn announced that SID had received requests from three New York State health insurers or their subsidiaries to issue dividends of more than $1.2 billion, which will be sent to out-of-state corporate parents. The requests follow initial dividend actions from the same three insurers in 2008 that totaled $948 million.

MSSNY will also be participating in a press conference this upcoming Wednesday to urge support for this measure, along with Superintendent of Insurance James Wrynn, as well as patient advocacy groups and regional chambers of commerce. Aggressive physician grassroots is needed. Physicians can send a letter to their legislators urging support for this measure, as well as other critically needed managed care reforms, by clicking here.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 8:27 am and is filed under NEWS FROM THE NYS LEGISLATURE. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Physicians Urged to Support Managed Care Reform in State Budget

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