HF 120

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 01:33am

A bill for an act
relating to health; establishing oversight for rural health cooperative
arrangements; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 62R.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [62R.09] ANTITRUST IMMUNITY.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Intent; purpose. new text end

new text begin The legislature finds that the goals of controlling
health care costs and improving the quality of and access to health care services in rural
areas are significantly enhanced by the development of health care cooperatives created
under this chapter. To promote health care cooperative arrangements, it is necessary for the
cooperatives to collectively negotiate on behalf of their members. Although negotiations
may raise competitive issues, the legislature finds that properly supervised health care
cooperative negotiations will enhance the delivery of health care in rural markets. The
legislature further finds that by establishing a system of review and supervision of health
care cooperative contractual negotiations competition is preserved. The purpose of this
legislation is to clarify the provisions in this chapter to ensure that health care cooperative
arrangements under section 62R.06 are not in violation of state or federal antitrust law.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Review and approval; monitoring. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner shall review
and authorize contracts and business or financial arrangements under section 62R.06,
subdivision 1. All contracts and business or financial arrangements must be submitted on
an application for approval to the commissioner.
new text end

new text begin (b) Within 30 days after receiving an application, the commissioner may request
additional information that is necessary to complete the review required under this section.
If the commissioner does not request additional information and does not act within 60
days after receipt of an application, the application shall be deemed approved. The
commissioner shall not deny any application unless the commissioner determines that the
proposed arrangement is likely to result in higher health care costs or diminished access to
or quality of health care than would occur in the competitive marketplace.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner may condition approval of a proposed arrangement on a
modification of all or part of the arrangement to eliminate any restriction on competition
that is not reasonably related to the goals of improving health care access or quality. The
commissioner may also establish conditions for approval that are reasonably necessary
to protect against abuses of private economic power and to ensure that the arrangement
has oversight by the state.
new text end

new text begin (d) The commissioner shall monitor arrangements approved under this section
to ensure that the arrangement remains in compliance with the conditions of approval.
The commissioner may revoke an approval upon a finding that the arrangement is not in
substantial compliance with the terms of the application or the conditions of approval.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Applications. new text end

new text begin (a) Applications for approval under this section must
include a detailed description of the proposed arrangement.
new text end

new text begin (b) The application must include:
new text end

new text begin (1) the identities of all the parties to the arrangement;
new text end

new text begin (2) the intent of the arrangement;
new text end

new text begin (3) the expected outcome of the arrangement; and
new text end

new text begin (4) an explanation of how the arrangement will improve access or quality of care.
new text end

new text begin (c) Data on providers collected under this section are private data on individuals or
nonpublic data, as defined in section 13.02.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Application fee. new text end

new text begin When submitting an application to the commissioner, a
health care cooperative shall pay a fee of $2,000 for the commissioner's cost of reviewing
and monitoring the arrangement. Revenue received by the commissioner under this
section shall be deposited into the state government special revenue fund and shall be
appropriated to the commissioner for the purpose of administering this section.
new text end