§ 213 — New York state health care quality and cost containment commission

§ 213. New York state health care quality and cost containment\ncommission. (a) There is hereby established within the department a\ncommission, to be known as the "New York state health care quality and\ncost containment commission". The commission shall consist of thirteen\nmembers appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be the\nsuperintendent, one of whom shall be the commissioner of health, and six\nof whom shall be appointed on the recommendation of the legislative\nleaders, two on the recommendation of the temporary president of the\nsenate, two on the recommendation of the speaker of the assembly, one on\nthe recommendation of the minority leader of the senate, and one on the\nrecommendation of the minority leader of the assembly. All members shall\nserve at the pleasure of the governor, and vacancies shall be appointed\nin the same manner as original appointments. Members of the commission\nshall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for reasonable\ntravel expenses. In making appointments to the commission, the governor\nshall ensure that the interests of health care consumers, small\nbusinesses, the medical community and health plans are represented on\nthe commission.\n (b)(1) The purpose of the commission shall be to analyze the impact on\nhealth insurance costs and quality of proposed legislation which would\nmandate that health benefits be offered or made available in individual\nand group health insurance policies, contracts and comprehensive health\nservice plans, including legislation that affects the delivery of health\nbenefits or services or the reimbursement of health care providers.\n (2) The governor, the chair of the senate insurance committee and the\nchair of the assembly insurance committee may request in writing that\nthe commission evaluate a proposed mandated benefit. Upon receiving such\na request, the commission may, by a majority vote of its members,\nundertake an evaluation of such proposed mandated benefit.\n (3) In evaluating a proposed mandated benefit, the commission shall:\n (A) investigate the current practices of health plans with regard to\nthe proposed mandated benefit, and, to the extent possible, self-funded\nhealth benefit plans;\n (B) investigate the potential premium impact of the proposed mandated\nbenefits on all segments of the insurance market, as well as the\npotential for avoided costs through early detection and treatment of\nconditions, or more cost-effective delivery of medical services; and\n (C) analyze the most current medical literature regarding the proposed\nmandated benefit to determine its impact on health care quality.\n (4) In evaluating a proposed mandated benefit, the commission may hold\none or more public hearings, and shall strive to obtain independent and\nverifiable information from diverse sources within the healthcare\nindustry, medical community and among health care consumers with regard\nto the proposed mandated benefit.\n (c) To assist the commission in its duties, and upon the direction of\nthe commission, the superintendent is authorized to enter into one or\nmore contracts with independent entities and organizations with\ndemonstrable expertise in health care quality, finance, utilization and\nactuarial services. For the purposes of this section, the superintendent\nshall not enter into contracts with health plans, entities or\norganizations owned or controlled by health plans, or with significant\nbusiness relationships with health plans.\n (d) Upon completion of its evaluation of a proposed mandated benefit\npursuant to this section, the commission shall deliver a written report\nof its findings to the chair of the assembly insurance committee and the\nchair of the senate insurance committee.\n