New citizens group plugs
for rate regulation bill

But insurers say the measure
won't solve high-cost problems

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By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

A group billing itself as "Citizens Against Health Care Monopolies" offered strong support yesterday for a bill that would give the state insurance commissioner greater oversight of health insurers' rates.

They also chided legislators, should they be tempted to kill the bill due to pressure from health insurers or House leadership.

The group of about 20, made up of representatives from labor, consumer interests, business and former politicians, called on legislators to support House Bill 1761.

They warned that the bill is in jeopardy since lobbying efforts by insurance companies intensify towards the end of the session.

"The failure of the Legislature will betray the interests of all Hawaii," said University of Hawaii law professor Richard Miller, the group's leader.

Because Hawaii businesses are mandated by the state to purchase health insurance for their employees, the state has a special responsibility to oversee the insurers' rate-making practices, especially when there is a dominant insurer -- in this case, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Miller said.

"We believe that the state, because it requires businesses to purchase health insurance, has a parallel obligation to ensure rates are fair," he said.

With no serious competition in Hawaii's insurance marketplace, the state's employers, workers and health care providers have nowhere else to turn for a better deal, he said.

Miller called on the public to urge their legislators to support the bill. In particular, Miller singled out House Speaker Calvin Say, who he said has been pressuring other legislators to vote against the bill.

"Please give Speaker Say your attention. We have learned he is trying to convince his colleagues who he appointed to conference committee to vote against HB 1761," Miller said.

Say did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Ruth Ellen Lindenburg, president of the non-profit organization Kokua Council, also pointed to the House speaker's office as a possible roadblock to the bill's passage.

"The prospects (for the bill) lay with the speaker of the House even though younger members of the Legislature favor it," she said.

But insurers believe the group's fears are unfounded. It's a case of blaming they messenger, they say.

The bill will do nothing to solve the real problem -- rising health care costs, said HMSA Government Relations Representative Jennifer Diesman.

Diesman said the bill, if passed, could even cause health care costs to go higher.

"We don't fix anything with this bill. In fact, it will probably drive up costs," she said.

So far the bill has garnered support from the majority of legislators in the House and the Senate. In the Senate Ways and Means Committee, legislators voted 11-2 in favor of it. On third reading in the House, 37 legislators voted in support of the measure and the full Senate also recently voted 21-3 in favor of it.

But because the bill contained some amendments, although largely technical, it could move on to a House-Senate conference committee later this week to resolve any differences between the two versions of the bill.

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