Resolve, To Eliminate or Reduce the Health Care Data Collection Problems Associated with Global Claims

Emergency preamble. Whereas,  acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and

Whereas,  the existence of global claims is creating serious problems with the identification of practitioners and the computation of payments in the data currently collected by the Maine Health Data Organization and used by the Maine Quality Forum and the Governor's Office of Health Care Policy and Finance and must be addressed; and

Whereas,  the solution to the problem will be complex, involve a number of entities and take a number of months to achieve; and

Whereas,  emergency enactment is required to enable the interested parties time to work together and to take action prior to the report due to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters by January 15, 2009; and

Whereas,  in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore, be it

Sec. 1. Study. Resolved: That representatives of health insurance carriers licensed in the State, 3rd-party administrators and hospitals licensed in the State, with representatives of the Maine Association of Health Plans, the Maine Hospital Association and the Maine Health Data Organization, all of whom are referred to in this resolve as “the work group,” shall meet to evaluate the Maine combined bill demonstration project, as proposed by the National Uniform Billing Committee. The work group may identify and propose an alternative that will solve the data collection problems associated with global claims; and be it further

Sec. 2. Report. Resolved: That the work group shall report the findings of the study under section 1 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters by January 15, 2009.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.