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Senate Committee Amends Health Insurance Bill

June 23, 2006 – After waiting just about two hours to get a quorum, the Senate's Health, Hospitals and Human Services Committee chairman, Sen. Craig Barshinger, finally had enough of his committee members present to move a bit forward on a bill that mandates health insurance for the territory's private sector.
Barshinger said that about 15,000 Virgin Islands residents do not have health insurance, which puts a financial strain on the territory's health care facilities and adds stress to the lives of those who are uninsured.
Meeting Friday at the Legislature on St. Thomas, the committee adopted amendments that provide help for businesses that face going out of business if they are forced to pay half of the health insurance premiums for their employees.
"We are not willing to let anyone go out of business," Barshinger said.
The amendment set up a $5 million fund to help pay insurance premiums for those companies, after the University of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center certifies that they are truly needy.
The business owner will have to apply for the assistance at the Lieutenant Governor's Office, which oversees insurance matters across the territory.
The committee members also approved an amendment that incorporates public input gathered at public forums since the bill first aired on Jan. 18.
The Legislature's post auditor and legal counsel will now analyze the amended bill.
Senate President Lorraine Berry, who serves on the Health, Hospitals and Human Services Committee, asked that the post auditor do a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of the bill before the committee takes a vote.
"We want health care insurance for the private sector, but the question is at what cost and can it be fair to everybody," committee member Sen. Neville James added.
Barshinger said the post audit analysis should be done by July 10. He said he'll schedule another committee meeting soon after to take up the bill again.
Sen. Ronald Russell, who does not serve on the committee, asked that the Legislature's legal counsel look at whether a memorandum of understanding between the executive branch and Employment Business Solutions, entered into prior to passage of the health care insurance bill, is legal. The company is on tap to set up the multiple employer trusts necessary for the health insurance proposal to work.
Barshinger agreed that he would request an analysis from the legal counsel's office, but he later stressed that EBS would provide just one option for creating multiple employer trusts.
"They have no exclusive rights," he said.
He said he envisioned that other companies would want to participate and that insurance companies now doing business in the territory would agree to write insurance for smaller groups. He said many now have a 10-employee minimum.
"Don't be surprised if you find a fabulous assortment of insurance options," Barshinger said.
The system would work by pooling premiums from multiple employers to provide a larger base of insured workers than employers can create by themselves. This spreads the risk.
Barshinger said a provision in the bill, before it was amended, that provided coverage for domestic partners was removed in anticipation that Sen. Raymond "Usie" Richards would offer an amendment to include domestic partners.
Barshinger said that since Richards first proposed the domestic partner idea, he gets first dibs on offering the amendment.
"Put pressure on the senator that can move that," Barshinger said.
Barshinger, James, Berry, and Sen. Pedro Encarnacion voted yes on the amendments. Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg had been at the meeting, but left before the vote was taken. Richards and Sen. Norman JnBaptiste were absent.

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