SF 3573

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to health; authorizing a computer-based model to assess the impact of
health care reform proposals; requiring a study of changes to state budgeting
approaches; appropriating money.

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

Section 1. new text begin GLOBAL MODELING OF HEALTH CARE REFORMS.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Reform modeling tool. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of health, in consultation
with the commissioners of human services, employee relations, and finance, shall contract
with the University of Minnesota to develop a computer-based model that will assess
the impact of proposed health care reforms or major health care-related legislation on
all sectors of the health care system, including public health, public and private health
insurance coverage, long-term and continuing care, programs for persons with disabilities,
social services and other sectors related to Minnesotans' health, and health care. The
model must be:
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new text begin (1) developed by a consortium of researchers, actuaries, health care financial
analysts, computer analysts, and policy experts with safeguards to make sure that the
model and its assumptions and formulas are based on valid and objective data, research,
and expert opinions;
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new text begin (2) designed to enable policy makers and state agencies to enter into the model
and access each component of health care reform including health care home, payment
reforms, population-wide prevention, and coverage for the uninsured and determine
the short-term and long-term impact on health insurance premiums, health status of
Minnesotans, incidence of chronic disease, and government program costs;
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new text begin (3) capable of assessing the interaction of different legislative and policy changes
to determine the net affect on costs, access, and health status within sectors of the health
care system, and the net overall impact across all sectors;
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new text begin (4) designed to identify risks of unpredictable or unintended consequences,
cost-shifting between or within sectors of the health care system, and opportunities to
make changes in one sector that will produce a benefit to other sectors; and
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new text begin (5) capable of being adjusted based on both the proposed changes and the resulting
impact in the following areas:
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new text begin (i) insured status of Minnesotans, including both public and private health coverage;
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new text begin (ii) health status of Minnesotans, including the incidence of chronic disease and
risk factors such as obesity and smoking;
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new text begin (iii) utilization of preventive care services such as screenings, immunizations, and
physical examinations;
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new text begin (iv) costs and cost distribution, including costs to individuals and families for
premiums, co-payments, deductibles, and other direct costs; costs to Minnesota businesses
for employee health benefits and other health-related costs; and government costs for
health coverage for public programs, public employees, public health programs, long-term
and continuing care programs, and social services; and
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new text begin (v) total cost of health care and health-related services, both public and private.
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new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Fiscal notes on health care reform legislation. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of
finance shall use the computer modeling tool and other information to:
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new text begin (1) conduct a global impact assessment of major health policy changes proposed
in legislation;
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new text begin (2) describe the impact of the proposed legislation; and
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new text begin (3) quantify the costs and savings:
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new text begin (i) in every part of the state's budget, including state health care programs, public
employee costs, long-term care and continuing care programs, and other health care and
social services programs; and
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new text begin (ii) on local government budgets and private health insurance premiums, and on the
out-of-pocket expenses individuals pay for health care and taxes.
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new text begin (b) The commissioner, in consultation with the chairs of the senate and house
health care finance committees, shall develop recommendations for the governor and the
legislature on changes to state budgeting approaches and legislative processes that will
bridge across traditional budget boundaries in order to both assess the impact of proposed
legislative changes across these boundaries and to allow the reallocation of resources
across boundaries. These approaches should also cover a time period longer than the
existing two-year budgeting cycle so that longer term return-on-investment projections
can be considered when making short-term budget decisions.
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Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
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new text begin $300,000 is appropriated from the health care access fund to the commissioner of
health for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, for the costs of developing and using the
health reform modeling tool under section 1, subdivision 1.
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