FULL COMMITTEE ACTION

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 

H.R. 3204, "State High Risk Pool Funding Extension Act of 2005", was ordered reported favorably to the House, amended, by a voice vote.

The following amendments were offered:

An amendment in the nature of a substitute by Mr. Shadegg, #1, was adopted by a voice vote; and

An amendment to the Shadegg amendment by Mr. Brown, #1A, regarding bonus grants for supplemental consumer benefits, was adopted by a voice vote.

H.R. 3205, "Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005", was ordered reported favorably to the House, amended, by a voice vote.

The following amendment was offered:

An amendment in the nature of a substitute by Messrs. Deal and Brown, #1, was adopted by a voice vote.

H.R. 1132, "National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005", was ordered reported favorably to the House, amended, by a voice vote.

The following amendments were offered:

An amendment in the nature of a substitute by Mr. Whitfield, #1, was adopted by a voice vote; and

An amendment to the Whitfield amendment by Mr. Markey, #1A, providing that "minimum requirements" include a requirement that a patient be notified if information relating to the patient in a State controlled substance monitoring program database is lost, stolen, or used for an unauthorized purpose, was adopted by a voice vote.

H.Res. 220, Recognizing America's Blood Centers and its member organizations for their commitment to providing over half the Nation with a safe and adequate volunteer donor blood supply, was ordered reported favorably to the House, amended, by a voice vote.

The following amendment was offered:

An amendment in the nature of a substitute by Mr. Deal, #1, was adopted by a voice vote.

H.Res. 261, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should be commended for implementing the Medicare demonstration project to assess the quality of care of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and should extend the project, at least through 2006, subject to any appropriate modification, was ordered reported favorably to the House, amended, by a voice vote.

The following amendment was offered:

An amendment by Mr. Hall, #1, regarding payments to physicians for participation in the project, was adopted by a voice vote.

H.R. 2355, "Health Care Choice Act of 2005", was ordered favorably reported to the House, amended, by a yea-nay vote: 24 - 23.

The following amendments were offered:

An en bloc amendment by Mr. Shadegg, #1, was ADOPTED by a yea-nay vote: 24 - 17;

An amendment to the Shadegg amendment by Mr. Waxman, #1A - Protecting Residents from Harm: insurer could only sell in a State where the insurer is not licensed if the insurance commissioner has approved and certified that the policy would not adversely affect their market for individual policies or undermine benefit and consumer protections in that State, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 20-21;

An amendment by Mr. Green, #2, requiring that the secondary State enact into law a waiver of applicable health insurance regulations in that secondary State in order for health insurance issuers to offer, sell, renew, and issue individual health insurance coverage in the secondary State, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 18 - 23;

An amendment by Mr. Brown, #3 - Ensuring Consumer Choice: any insurer offering coverage in a State where the insurer is not licensed must also offer a policy that meets the laws of that state in addition to whatever other policy the insurer is offering, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 19 - 25;

An amendment by Mr. Norwood, #4 - (a) minimum standards for capital and surplus requirements for all health insurance issuers (b) external appeals procedures, was ADOPTED by a voice vote;

An amendment by Ms. DeGette, #5 - Protecting Individuals with Diabetes: insurers must comply with all laws in a State where the insurer is not licensed regarding access to coverage and benefits for individuals with diabetes, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 23 - 23

Two amendments offered en bloc by Mr. Norwood, #6 ---
1) GAO Ongoing Study and Reports, was adopted by a voice vote
2) Compliance with State law regarding preexisting condition exclusions and rating and re-rating of an individual health insurance policy, was withdrawn;

An amendment by Mr. Dingell, #7, Mr. Norwood’s previous amendment regarding compliance with State law, was withdrawn;

An amendment by Mr. Markey, #8, Ensuring Informed Consumer Choice:
(a) Insurers offering coverage in a State where the insurer is not licensed must provide an explanation in easy to understand language of any variance of that policy from the mandated benefits, consumer protections, fraud protections, or premium protections that would be provided under the laws of the State where the insurer is not licensed that would not apply.
(b) Each time an insurer changes its primary State, it must notify policy holders in writing of the change, and must include a summary of any material changes in law and regulation between the old and new primary jurisdiction, as well as where to file a complaint in the primary State.
(c) Insurers must maintain a website (and provide information in each policy on how to access that site) which contains (1) copies of each insurance policy form sold in the State where the insurer is not licensed; (2) copies of or links to the insurance law and regulation used in the primary State; (3) a discussion of the rating approach used by the primary insurer including whether it varies by duration and how it approaches closed blocks of business; and (4) information on how the applicant or policy holder can file a complaint with the insurance regulator of the primary State, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 19 - 25;

An amendment by Mr. Stupak, #9 - Access to Specialty Care: prohibits insurance companies not licensed in a State from selling an individual health insurance policy unless the insurance policy ensures adequate access to specialty care, as included in the Patients’ Bill of Rights, including ensuring enrollees get timely access to a specialist when needed; making available a non-participating specialist at no extra cost to the beneficiary if the plan can’t provide access to a necessary in-network doctor; allowing patients to have their specialist serve as a primary care provider if they have an ongoing special condition; and requiring any treatment plan to be developed in conjunction with the specialist, patient, and plan, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 16 - 23;

An amendment by Mrs. Capps and Mr. Wynn, #10 - Protecting Breast Cancer Survivors: prohibits an insurance company that is not licensed in a State from selling an individual health insurance policy unless that insurance policy offers coverage to women with breast cancer that have been in remission for five years. This would ensure that insurers could not discriminate against women who have successfully battled cancer and are now in remission. If the insurer does not have a policy to ensure an offering of insurance to women in remission from breast cancer, the insurer would not be able to be exempt from regulation and oversight by the secondary State, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 15 - 20;

Two amendments offered en bloc by Mr. Green, #11:
Access to Emergency Care: prohibits an insurance company that is not licensed in a State from selling an individual health insurance policy unless the insurance policy ensured adequate access to emergency care, as included in the Patients’ Bill of Rights; and
Ensuring Adequate Access to Childhood Immunizations: insurance companies must cover immunizations for children with no co-payments/deductible,
were defeated by a yea-nay vote: 18 - 23;

An amendment by Mrs. Capps, #12, Ensuring States’ Ability to Protect Consumers: allows any State in which a company sells its policies to take action against a bad company if the licensing State does not act within 10 days of receiving a complaint, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 19 - 23;

An amendment by Mr. Inslee, #13, Protecting Individuals with Pediatric Cancer, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 19 - 24;

An amendment by Ms. Baldwin, #14, Banning Bad Actors: allows a State Insurance Commissioner, upon identifying violations of consumer protection laws, to ban bad actors from their State insurance market for up to five years, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 18 - 24;

An amendment by Mr. Strickland, #15, Protecting Pregnant Women and Children: prohibits an insurance company that is not licensed in a State from selling an individual health insurance policy unless that insurance policy complies with all of that State’s laws relating to access to coverage and benefits for pregnant women and children, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 20 -24;

An amendment by Mr. Allen, #16, Protecting Coverage of, and Access to, Prescription Drugs, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 22 - 26; and

An amendment by Messrs. Strickland and Engel, #17, Protecting Individuals with Mental Illness: requires an insurance company selling an individual health insurance policy that is not licensed in a State to comply with all of that State’s laws relating to access to coverage and benefits for individuals with mental illness, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 21 - 25.

THE COMMITTEE ADJOURNED SUBJECT TO THE CALL OF THE CHAIR