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February 11, 2008 issue
The second half of the 2008 legislative session began last week, and action was relatively slow. Committees in both the House and Senate are organizing their calendars for the bills that will or will not be heard in those committees over the next week and a half. The deadline for committees to act upon bills is Feb. 21.
The ISMA has two major insurance proposals still alive this session, HB 1055 – Assignment of Benefits and SB 159 – Third Party Health Service Agreements (Silent PPOs). The ISMA also is monitoring several other bills, discussed in this issue.
The most controversial bill the ISMA supports is HB 1055. Anthem, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce are vigorously opposing the measure. They say that if out-of-network physicians are paid directly by insurers physicians will simply leave their current network arrangements, thereby destroying in-network access and increasing costs. This argument is totally unfounded as no other state that has passed this law has experienced a decline with insurance network strength.
While the ISMA and other provider organizations were successful moving the bill out of the House, the bill has stalled in the Senate. The ISMA will continue to educate senators about the merits of the bill and debunk arguments of the opposition.
Your help is needed! Please call your Indiana Senator and ask for support of HB 1055. You may reach your senator at (317) 232-9400 or (800) 382-9467. Find your senator online or call Sally Pierson at the ISMA. Get updates on bills in the following categories:
Medicaid
Pharmacy
Professional Licensure
Public Health
Tobacco
Miscellaneous
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