Senate Bill No. 389
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 2, 1999;
referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources;
and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article twenty-nine-b, chapter sixteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
section nineteen-b, relating to eliminating the hospital
rate-setting powers and jurisdiction of the West Virginia
health care authority; requiring the health care authority
board to study the impact that eliminating hospital
ratesetting will have on the financing of uncompensated
health care and graduate medical education and on the
protection of certain patients; directing the board to
propose legislative rules establishing requirements and
procedures for notifying the public of proposed hospital
rate increases; providing for determination by the board
that a proposed increase is excessive; establishing requirements and procedures for the conduct of a public
hearing when a proposed increase is determined to be
excessive; and establishing a procedure whereby the board of
directors or trustees of a hospital proposing a rate
increase determined to be excessive must respond to concerns
raised in the public hearing; and providing for the
expiration of the board's authority to make determinations
regarding proposed rate increases and to conduct public
hearings thereon.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article twenty-nine-b, chapter sixteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nineteen-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29B. HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY.
§16-29B-19b. Elimination of hospital rate-setting powers and
jurisdiction.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, on and after the thirty-first day of December, two
thousand, the board shall have no power to establish or approve
hospital rates including any power or jurisdiction to:
(1) Approve or disapprove hospital rates or budgets;
(2) Adopt or approve alternative methods of setting hospital
rates;
(3) Examine the need for any alternative hospital rate- setting method;
(4) Review or approve hospital discount or risk-bearing
contracts;
(5) Conduct hearings relating to the approval or enforcement
of hospital rates; or
(6) Propose rules for promulgation relating to the approval
or disapproval of hospital rates.
(b) Before the authority's jurisdiction with regard to
hospital rate-setting expires as provided in subsection (a) of
this section, the board shall conduct studies concerning the
impact that the elimination of such rate-setting may be expected
to have on the following:
(1) Financing the cost of uncompensated care;
(2) Financing the cost of graduate medical education; and
(3) Protecting small businesses and uninsured, private-pay or self-pay patients from unreasonably high rates due to cost- shifting or other measures.
The board shall submit a report containing its findings,
conclusions and recommendations on these issues, along with
drafts of any legislation necessary to effectuate its
recommendations, to the governor, the president of the Senate and
the speaker of the House of Delegates on or before the first day
of November, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.
(c) On or before the first day of September, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-nine, the board shall propose legislative
rules for promulgation in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code:
(1) Establishing a procedure by which hospitals notify the
public of a rate increase prior to its implementation;
(2) For determining at what amount or under what
circumstances a hospital rate increase shall be considered by the
board to be "excessive";
(3) Establishing a procedure for conducting a public hearing
in the event that a hospital rate increase is determined by the
board to be "excessive"; and
(4) Establishing a procedure whereby the board of directors or trustees of a hospital proposing a rate increase that is
determined by the board to be "excessive" shall be required to
respond in writing to the concerns raised at the public hearing.
(d) On and after the first day of January, two thousand
three, the board shall have no authority to make determinations
as to whether a hospital rate increase is "excessive", nor to
conduct public hearings on "excessive" hospital rate increases.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the West
Virginia Health Care Authority's hospital rate-setting powers
effective December 31, 2000; establish a public hearing procedure
for rate increases determined to be excessive; and to direct the
Authority to conduct studies regarding the elimination of rate- setting on financing uncompensated care, graduate medical
education and the protection of private-pay patients and small
businesses.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.