House Bill 700
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PRINTER'S NO. 1011
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THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
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HOUSE BILL
No. 700 Session of 2007
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INTRODUCED BY EACHUS, DeLUCA, DeWEESE, McCALL, D. EVANS, COHEN,
DERMODY, SURRA, STURLA, OLIVER AND MUNDY, MARCH 22, 2007
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REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE, MARCH 22, 2007
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AN ACT
1 Amending Title 40 (Insurance) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, reforming the health care system by providing for
3 access to affordable health insurance coverage for previously
4 uninsured individuals and for small businesses, ensuring that
5 charitable health care institutions meet their community
6 benefit requirements, strengthening Commonwealth oversight of
7 health insurance rate increases, imposing certain duties on
8 retail drug stores, hospitals and certain outpatient
9 facilities to report price information, establishing the
10 Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers and the Health Careers
11 Leadership Council, removing barriers to individual health
12 care providers from practicing to the full extent of their
13 scope of practice, education and training, imposing certain
14 health information technology requirements on health care
15 providers, imposing patient safety obligations on hospitals
16 and nursing homes, prohibiting smoking in areas open to the
17 public, food service establishments and places of employment,
18 providing for administration, imposing penalties and making
19 repeals.
20 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
21 hereby enacts as follows:
22 Section 1. Title 40 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
23 Statutes is amended by adding a part to read:
24 SUBPART IV
25 HEALTH CARE REFORM
26 Chapter
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1 71. General Provisions
2 72. Affordability
3 73. Accessibility
4 74. Quality of Care and Healthy Lifestyles
5 75. Miscellaneous Provisions
6 CHAPTER 71
7 GENERAL PROVISIONS
8 Sec.
9 7101. Scope and short title.
10 7102. Legislative intent.
11 7103. Definitions.
12 § 7101. Scope and short title.
13 This part relates to health care reform and shall be known
14 and may be cited as the Pennsylvania Health Care Reform Act.
15 § 7102. Legislative intent.
16 The General Assembly recognizes the following public policy
17 purposes and declares that the following objectives of this
18 Commonwealth are to be served by this part:
19 (1) Health care costs have been increasing twice as fast
20 as average wages in this Commonwealth. Yet at the same time
21 as health care costs are skyrocketing and nearly one million
22 Pennsylvanians remain uninsured, the Commonwealth is paying
23 billions of dollars each year in avoidable health care costs.
24 (2) The large number of uninsured workers in this
25 Commonwealth has a negative impact on the Commonwealth's
26 economy and productivity because insured workers are
27 healthier and more productive and use fewer sick days. The
28 Commonwealth should play a role in making health care
29 coverage affordable for small businesses and for uninsured
30 individuals.
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1 (3) The health care crisis is of national concern, but
2 it is possible to create a solution in Pennsylvania that
3 drives down the cost of health care and improves the well-
4 being of Pennsylvania's citizens by addressing three
5 fundamental issues: affordability, accessibility and quality.
6 (4) The Commonwealth has a clear interest in ensuring
7 that Pennsylvania families and small employers can afford
8 health insurance. In addition to the staggering human impact
9 of inadequate health care, paying for the uninsured drives up
10 the cost of health care for all insured Pennsylvanians. The
11 extra charge in insurance premiums resulting from this
12 amounts to over a billion dollars each year.
13 (5) Individual and small group health insurance rates
14 are volatile. In order to ensure that affordable individual
15 and small group health insurance is available, the
16 Commonwealth must do all of the following:
17 (i) Contain health care coverage premium increases
18 for small employers.
19 (ii) Spread the risks.
20 (iii) Ensure that affordable health care coverage is
21 available to those who have lost their employer-based
22 coverage.
23 (iv) Ensure that a substantial portion of the
24 premiums for small employers is used to pay medical
25 claims.
26 (v) Require justification for premium increases.
27 (6) The Commonwealth's not-for-profit hospitals receive
28 tax and other benefits as a result of their classification as
29 charitable institutions and, in return, are required to
30 provide a substantial community benefit. However, there is
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1 currently no uniform method of assessing whether a hospital
2 has met this obligation. Not-for-profit hospitals that enjoy
3 these benefits must demonstrate how they are meeting their
4 obligations to the community.
5 (7) With regard to quality and price, Pennsylvania's
6 health care market should be as transparent as possible, so
7 that all consumers will have the information they need to
8 make informed decisions on where they can obtain the best
9 quality health care at the best price.
10 (8) To expand access to quality health care, all health
11 care professionals need to be able to practice to the fullest
12 extent of their education, training and skills. Pennsylvania
13 lags behind the rest of the nation in ensuring that nurses,
14 nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health
15 care providers are permitted to play critical roles to
16 support, coach and treat the patient, resulting in better
17 outcomes for all Pennsylvanians. Barriers that limit licensed
18 health care providers from performing up to the fullest
19 extent of their scope of practice, education and training in
20 this Commonwealth should be eliminated.
21 (9) The unnecessary use of emergency room services in
22 this Commonwealth affects both the outcome of patient care
23 and the cost to the entire health care system. Access to
24 clinics that can function as places where individuals go on a
25 regular basis to receive health care should be expanded and
26 Pennsylvanians should be educated about the appropriate use
27 of emergency rooms and alternative sites of care.
28 (10) The primary goals of the Commonwealth's health care
29 system must be the safety of its patients and the quality of
30 health care services delivered. In order to further these
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1 goals and to continue to improve the safety of patients,
2 hospital-acquired infections, which lead to thousands of
3 unnecessary deaths each year and drive up health care costs,
4 must be eliminated. Hospitals need to focus on infection and
5 error trends in their facilities and adopt safe practices and
6 quality management systems to reduce them. Not only
7 individual health care providers, but administrators and
8 boards of directors must be accountable for understanding the
9 importance of patient safety in reducing risk, improving
10 quality and reducing the cost of health care.
11 (11) Breathing secondhand smoke is a significant health
12 hazard for nonsmokers. It is in the best interests of the
13 citizens of this Commonwealth to protect nonsmokers from
14 involuntary exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in indoor
15 areas open to the public, food service establishments and
16 places of employment. In addition, adults who smoke, are
17 overweight or inactive are at an increased risk of developing
18 high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some
19 types of cancers and become an economic burden to all health
20 care payers in this Commonwealth.
21 § 7103. Definitions.
22 The following words and phrases when used in this part shall
23 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
24 context clearly indicates otherwise:
25 "Accident and Health Filing Reform Act." The act of December
26 18, 1996 (P.L.1066, No.159), known as the Accident and Health
27 Filing Reform Act.
28 "Ambulatory surgical facility." An entity licensed as an
29 ambulatory surgical facility under the act of July 19, 1979
30 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act.
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