PRINTER'S NO. 612
No. 542 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY TANGRETTI, CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, CURRY, DePASQUALE, FABRIZIO, FREEMAN, GEORGE, GERGELY, GRUCELA, HENNESSEY, JAMES, KING, KOTIK, MAHONEY, MICOZZIE, PALLONE, SOLOBAY, STABACK, WHEATLEY, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, YUDICHAK AND SIPTROTH, MARCH 6, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, MARCH 6, 2007
AN ACT 1 Providing for the Health Care Responsibility Report; and 2 imposing duties on the Department of Health and the 3 Department of Public Welfare. 4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 5 hereby enacts as follows: 6 Section 1. Short title. 7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pennsylvania 8 Health Care Responsibility Report Act. 9 Section 2. Legislative findings. 10 The General Assembly finds that: 11 (1) The increasing cost of health care presents a 12 tremendous obstacle for Pennsylvanians attempting to obtain 13 access to affordable health care coverage. 14 (2) There have been continued reports that private 15 employers have found it increasingly difficult to provide 16 adequate and affordable health care benefits for their
1 employees. 2 (3) The process of finding ways to expand options for 3 affordable health care coverage to more Pennsylvanians 4 requires a better understanding of the population that is 5 unable to obtain this coverage on their own and must rely on 6 State-funded public health access programs. 7 (4) Acquiring quality data about this population is 8 critical to ensuring that sound decisions can be reached 9 about the ways to expand affordable health care options to 10 Pennsylvanians. 11 (5) Taxpayers would be better served if the Commonwealth 12 implemented a procedure to facilitate statistical analysis of 13 Pennsylvania employees' health care and participation in 14 public health access programs, specifically Medicaid. 15 Section 3. Definitions. 16 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 17 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 18 context clearly indicates otherwise: 19 "Public health access program beneficiary." A person who 20 receives medical assistance or medical benefits or a person who 21 receives health care services that qualify as free care. 22 Section 4. Pennsylvania Health Care Responsibility Report. 23 Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the Secretary of 24 Health shall annually prepare a public health access program 25 beneficiary report. 26 Section 5. Report information. 27 (a) General rule.--The Pennsylvania Health Care 28 Responsibility Report shall provide the following information 29 for each employer of 50 or more public health access 30 beneficiaries: 20070H0542B0612 - 2 -
1 (1) The name and address of the employer. 2 (2) The number of public health access program 3 beneficiaries who are employees of the employer, listed as a 4 raw total and listed as a percentage of the qualified 5 employer's Pennsylvania work force. 6 (3) The number of public health access program 7 beneficiaries who are spouses or dependents of employees of 8 the employer, listed as a raw total and listed as a 9 percentage of the qualified employer's Pennsylvania work 10 force. 11 (4) Information on whether the reported public health 12 access program beneficiaries are full-time or part-time 13 employees. 14 (5) Information on whether the employer offers health 15 insurance benefits to full-time and part-time employees, 16 their spouses and their dependents. 17 (6) Information on whether employees receive health 18 insurance benefits through the company when some or all of 19 the premiums for such health insurance benefits are paid for 20 by public health access programs. 21 (7) The cost to the Commonwealth of providing public 22 health access program benefits for the employer's employees 23 and enrolled dependents listed as total cost and per capita 24 cost. 25 (8) The report shall make industry-wide comparisons by 26 sorting employers into industry categories based on available 27 information from the Department of Economic Development. 28 (b) Multiple employers.--If it is determined that a public 29 health care access program beneficiary has more than one 30 employer, the Secretary of Health shall count the beneficiary as 20070H0542B0612 - 3 -
1 a portion of one person for each employer for purposes of this 2 report. 3 (c) Exceptions.--The report shall not include the names of 4 any individual public health access program beneficiaries and 5 shall be subject to privacy standards. 6 Section 6. Annual report. 7 (a) General rule.--The Pennsylvania Health Care 8 Responsibility Report shall be submitted annually on February 1 9 to the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the 10 House of Representatives and the chair of the Public Health and 11 Welfare Committee of the Senate and the chair of the Health and 12 Human Services Committee of the House of Representatives. 13 (b) Public viewing.--The report shall be made available for 14 public viewing on the Department of Health Internet website, and 15 any member of the public shall have the right to request and 16 receive a printed copy of the report published under this 17 resolution through the Department of Health. 18 Section 7. Policies and procedures. 19 The Department of Health and the Department of Public Welfare 20 shall implement policies and procedures to acquire information 21 required by the Pennsylvania Health Care Responsibility Report. 22 Section 8. Effective date. 23 This act shall take effect in 60 days. A16L35SFL/20070H0542B0612 - 4 -