In an e-letter sent out to many New Yorkers today, Governor Patterson introduces a new health insurance product that he say help New York comply with federal healthcare reform.

” My Fellow New Yorkers,

I am writing to you today to let you know about a new temporary statewide insurance option for uninsured legal residents who have medical conditions. This new plan, called the NY Bridge Plan, is New York’s version of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan that was created under federal health care reform. The NY Bridge Plan is a valuable product of health care reform in that it provides health insurance coverage at a lower price than other options currently available in the individual market. Through the NY Bridge Plan, premiums will be $362/month for residents of upstate counties and $421/month for residents of downstate counties. A list of upstate and downstate counties is available in the NY Bridge Plan brochure.

Health insurance coverage is essential to having access to care. Through this program, more New Yorkers who need medical care will be able to receive it. The NY Bridge Plan covers a broad range of services, including primary and specialty care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, and prescription drugs, as well as assistance from professional nurses and caseworkers to help members manage chronic conditions and maintain overall health. Coverage for a pre-existing condition begins right away, with no waiting period. Eligibility for this program is not based on income. To be eligible to apply, individuals must:

· Be a legal U.S. resident;
· Be a resident of New York State;
· Have a pre-existing medical condition;
· and not have had health care coverage for the last six months.

Applications are available now. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. If the NY Bridge Plan reaches capacity, a waiting list will be established. Coverage will be effective October 1, 2010, and will be available until January 2014, when more health insurance coverage options become available through a new Health Insurance Exchange.

More information on the NY Bridge Plan, including the application and brochure, is available through www.healthcarereform.ny.gov. I encourage you to apply for this program if you are eligible, and to also help us spread the word about this new health insurance option to your uninsured family and friends.

Best,

David A. Paterson
Governor of New York State

Zack Phillips of BusinessInsurance.com writes - “The New York State Insurance Department said Tuesday that it has approved an average increase of 5% in medical malpractice rates, ending a two-year moratorium on rate increases.

The department also approved a 9.9% increase for a high-risk medical malpractice pool in New York. Both increases took effect July 1.

“This rate will help hold the line on costs for physicians while giving the insurance companies the resources to pay claims as they come due,” New York State Insurance Superintendent James J. Wrynn said in a statement.

Mr. Wrynn said he approved a 5% rate increase for Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Co., which has about 60% of the New York market; Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers, which has about 30% of the market; and two smaller, specialty insurers, Hospitals Insurance Co. and Academic Health Professionals Insurance Assn.

While 5% is the average increase, some doctors’ increases could be more or less depending on their specialty and location, the department said in the statement.”

To read more click here.

Today officially marks the start of summer and most business owners are probably not thinking much about equipment breakdown. However, statistics confirm that the sunny season can bring equipment failure and business continuity problems along with it.

Travelers (NYSE: TRV), a Business Council member, recently analyzed data for air conditioning and refrigeration claims in 2009 and found a sizeable increase in the number filed during the summer. Based on the historical analysis, the total number of air conditioning and refrigeration claims may increase nearly 40 percent in the summer versus the rest of the year.

“Don’t leave it to chance and find your air conditioning and refrigeration systems, boilers or electrical distribution equipment out of commission this summer,” said Anthony Giannone, President, Travelers Boiler & Machinery. “With the likelihood of equipment troubles increasing at this point in the year, now is a great time for business owners to consider taking preventative measures to ensure their equipment will continue running smoothly.”

Travelers provides business owners with valuable services to maintain equipment and to help business owners avoid possible breakdowns and malfunctions.

Read more.

For over a decade, the New York State Legislature and Governor have failed to provide solutions for soaring medical malpractice insurance costs.

The inaction has resulted in artificially low medical malpractice insurance rates and the creation of the Medical Malpractice Insurance Pool (MMIP). The low rates have caused the rapid financial deterioration of the medical malpractice insurance industry. The taxpayer funded MMIP is the market of last resort for medical malpractice insurance for eligible physicians, dentists and podiatrists, who are unable to procure such insurance in the voluntary market.

Now the Legislature and Governor are considering a tax on your property and casualty insurance policies to close the $480 million deficit in the MMIP insurance program. In addition, we have a strong reason to believe the Governor is proposing to eliminate the cap on legal fees on medical malpractice awards and banning health care providers from interviewing witnesses. These actions will cause an increase on insurance rates and health care costs.

The Business Council supports legal reforms such a cap on noneconomic damages and the creation of health courts. The legislature must enact these reforms to lower health care costs, increase access to obstetric and other health care services, limit defensive medicine, and stop doctors leaving to practice in other states.

Tell Albany to stop bailing out the taxpayer funded MMIP and enact legal reforms to lower health care costs.  Click here now!

Sarah Kliff writes on Politco.com - “Reading the health reform news in Massachusetts last week, you could easily see the glass as half full or half empty.

Health reform advocates celebrated a new report showing that, despite the devastating economic slump, the vast majority of Massachusetts residents had not dropped health insurance coverage. Just 4.8 percent of the state’s residents went without insurance, the lowest rate in the country.

But also making headlines about the same time were scathing complaints from the state’s insurance department, in which a state official called Massachusetts’s decision to reject the vast majority of insurer rate hikes a “train wreck” that would very likely lead to the insolvency of some companies.

The two story lines in the Boston newspapers succinctly encapsulate the state of the country’s first experiment in health reform. While Massachusetts has succeeded wildly at increasing coverage, it has not been able to curb skyrocketing health insurance costs.”

To read more click here.

According to Politico.com, “The Obama administration issued strict rules Monday under which even some small changes to existing health care plans will make them subject to the requirements of the new health care reform law.

The president promised repeatedly during the health care debate that individuals who like their current plans would be able to keep them. To meet that goal, the health care law envisioned that some plans would be “grandfathered in” under the old law — and therefore would not be required to meet some of the mandates of the new law, such as no-charge preventive care screenings.

To read more click here.

Last week the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, legislation  requiring health insurance plans to get from the Insurance Department prior approval on rates for small group plans and sets a medical loss ratio (MLR) standard of 82 for these plans (see S.8088/A.11369).  Included in the Governor’s budget “extender” bills, the proposal claims to produce state savings that would offset deeper Medicaid cuts. The bill is effective immediately and requires plans to get prior approval from the Insurance Department on plans in the current year.

In addition, an autism coverage mandate bill moved quickly this week through committee to unanimous passage on the Senate floor. See S.7000-B (Breslin)/A.10372-A (Morelle). The bill has been the subject of intense lobbying from advocacy groups interested in having broad-based coverage for a variety of therapies and treatments not typically considered health care, and not all based on sound clinically proven, evidence based medicine. The Business Council opposes this coverage mandate bill, as it lacks some of the standards set in other states with mandatory autism coverage requirements and does little to coordinate between education funding and health care requirements. More broadly, with weak definitions of habilitative care, the coverage mandate has the potential to categorize certain types of services as health care, when in fact it is not related to a legitimate health care expense. Legislative sponsors acknowledge this bill will likely increase premiums by at least 2 percent.

Jennifer Haberkorn writes on Politico.com - “Part of the health care overhaul due to kick in this September could strip more than 1 million people of their insurance coverage, violating a key goal of President Barack Obama’s reforms.

Under the provision, insurance companies will no longer be able to apply broad annual caps on the amount of money they pay out on health policies. Employer groups say the ban could essentially wipe out a niche insurance market that many part-time workers and retail and restaurant employees have come to rely on.”

To read more click here.

Despite objections from the Business Council and other business organizations, the legislature passed a bill which will reinstate a price control mechanism known as “prior approval” on community rated health insurance plans. Prior approval is not a new concept having been in place in the 1980s and 90’s. Although it is billed as a means to “hold health insurance plans accountable”, it more often results in premium rate suppression responding to political winds, more than sound actuarial data in support of rate filings.

“Government actions such as the $4.2 billion in health insurance taxes, including $700 million in new and increased taxes passed as part of last year’s state budget, along with the increasing number of insurance mandates continue to drive up health insurance premiums,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council in opposing this legislation.

The Business Review’s Adam Sichko has more on the bill. His story can be read here.

The Business Council’s memo in opposition to the bill can be read here.

Cara Matthews writes on Pressconnects.com - “The Assembly and Senate passed emergency budget legislation Monday that contains $775 million in permanent reductions to health care this fiscal year.

Gov. David Paterson included the reductions in weekly legislation he has been proposing to keep government operations going until he and legislators agree on a budget, which is now more than two months late. Negotiations have been complicated by disagreements over how to close several billion dollars of the state’s $9.2 billion deficit.

Another element of this week’s legislation gives the state Insurance Department the authority to review health-insurance premium hikes before they are implemented and prevent unnecessary increases.”

To read more click here.