| SABusinessHub.co.za https://sabusinesshub.co.za/webforum/ |
|
| Carcieri proposes health care plans for small business https://sabusinesshub.co.za/webforum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=89 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | flowerpower [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Carcieri proposes health care plans for small business |
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri announced Monday a plan to establish a $100 million trust fund for small businesses to purchase health insurance for employees and a $20 million bond to create a health information network. Carcieri’s initiatives are part of a five-point plan, first unveiled in October, to address health care issues. Carcieri also announced legislation to address issues of wellness and access to primary care, as well as state purchasing of health care. The governor said he would submit legislation to establish SelectCare, a product option for small businesses that creates incentives for consumers, providers and insurers to control the cost of care. SelectCare would be designed to focus on primary care, prevention and wellness; provide protections from the cost of catastrophic illness; encourage the use of evidence-based, quality care; and provide management of the chronically ill. The state would use its negotiating power with health insurers on behalf of small businesses, the governor’s office said. SelectCare would be funded through the creation of the Trust for Rhode Island Health Insurance, a $100 million fund from securitized tobacco payments that would provide perpetual annual contributions of $5 million to $7 million. This will be supplemented by an additional $5 million to $10 million annually charged on surplus health plan administration and profits. The SelectCare funds aim to provide premium relief for eligible employers and individual participants in the form of an insurer risk share arrangement, with a focus on those most at risk for being uninsured: low-wage small businesses, their employees, and individual enrollees. Average commercial premiums in Rhode Island doubled from 1997 to 2003 and those increases have been about 10 percent higher for small businesses, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Many small employers have been forced to drop their health insurance. Only 65 percent of businesses with fewer than 10 employees currently offer health insurance coverage to their employees; that has led to a 65 percent increase from 2000 to 2003 in the number of Rhode Islanders without insurance, the release said. It is estimated that 27,000 Rhode Islanders would enroll in the SelectCare program, and about one-fourth would benefit from the SelectCare market incentive program. The new plan design, combined with the risk sharing pool, is expected to reduce premiums by approximately 20 percent. Carcieri also said he would submit legislation that would allow consumers access to consumer pricing information of medical procedures, allow small employers to access health plan loss information, and provide standardized rate disclosures for those small employers. $20 million in innovation bond fund for “Anytime, Anywhere Health Care Information†|
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC + 2 hours |
| Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|