Final
Opening Remarks
HEALTH INSURANCE
Votes:
Action Taken:
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10:10 AM -- Opening Remarks
Members present for the first meeting of the Interim Committee to study Health Insurance were Senator Hagedorn, Senator Keller, Senator Johnson, Senator McElhany, Representative Boyd, Representative Riesberg, Representative Penry, and Representative Green. Senator Mitchell was also present and joined the committee at the table.
Senator Hagedorn gave opening remarks regarding the uninsured. He stated that the recent recession has caused a number of employers to cut health insurance benefits for their employees, and that many employers are not restoring health insurance benefits as the economy recovers. He discussed cost shifting. Senator Hagedorn stated that a large amount of money already goes to care for the uninsured, and that properly leveraging the money could provide coverage for most of the uninsured. He discussed future meeting dates of the committee and described the topics that will be addressed at the meetings, including network adequacy issues, reinsurance, and general health insurance proposals. Senator Hagedorn reminded the members of the committee that all bill draft ideas must be submitted by the September 7 meeting. He described a number of studies and papers regarding health insurance that were previously distributed to the committee.