Bill Text: VA HJR36 | 2020 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Health care spending in the Commonwealth; Joint Commission on Health Care to study.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - Left in Rules [HJR36 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR36-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, the cost of health care and public and private spending on health care has been steadily increasing; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) tracks annual spending on national health expenditures, including personal health care spending on hospital care, physician-provided services, and prescription drugs, as well as spending on administration, public health, and profits of private health insurers; and
WHEREAS, according to CMS, in 2015, national health expenditures increased by 5.8 percent; in 2016, national health expenditures increased by 4.8 percent; and in 2017 national health expenditures increased by 3.9 percent, with 2017 national health expenditures totaling $3.5 trillion, or $10,739 per capita; and
WHEREAS, according to CMS, in 2017, private health insurance was the largest source of spending on health care, followed by Medicare, Medicaid, out-of-pocket spending, other third-party payers and programs and public health activity, and other sources; and
WHEREAS, in 2014, the last year for which the CMS Office of the Actuary has provided data, average per capita spending on health care, including privately and publicly funded personal health care services and products in the Commonwealth, was $7,556, with average annual spending of $4,218 per private health insurance enrollee, $7,361 per Medicaid enrollee, and $9,677 per Medicare enrollee; and
WHEREAS, analysis of health care spending provides information about consumption of health care and provides data and information to inform and facilitate policy discussion and policy decisions regarding the health care system; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Commission on Health Care be directed to study health care spending in the Commonwealth.
In conducting its study, the Joint Commission on Health Care shall (i) determine the total amount of spending on health care in the Commonwealth, including the total amount of public funds and private funds spent on health care in the Commonwealth; (ii) determine the sources of funds spent on health care in the Commonwealth, including federal funds, state funds, local funds, employer-paid health insurance premiums, member-paid health insurance premiums, individual out-of-pocket spending, and uncompensated care, and the total amount for each source; (iii) determine the rates of change in health care spending, including rates of change in public and private health care spending, in the last five years; and (iv) identify the drivers of increases in health care spending in the Commonwealth.
All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Commission on Health Care for this study, upon request.
The Joint Commission on Health Care shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2020, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the Joint Commission on Health Care intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
