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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
29 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO RAISE MEDICARE FEE SCHEDULE PAYMENT AMOUNTS FOR PHYSICIANS RENDERING SERVICES IN HAWAII.
WHEREAS, reimbursement levels for Medicare and Medicaid are based upon the Medicare fee schedule, which is constructed from the Medicare fee schedule payment amount formula; and
WHEREAS, the fee schedule formula for each physician service is basically a conversion factor multiplied by relative value units; and
WHEREAS, the conversion factor converts the relative value units into dollars, and the relative value units generally reflect the value of a particular physician service in relation to other physician services; and
WHEREAS, the relative value units are composed of three components reflecting the concepts of physician work, practice expense, and malpractice expense; and
WHEREAS, each of these three components of the relative value units is multiplied by respective geographic practice cost indices so that the physician fee amount is geographically adjusted to the geographic region of the country in which the service is rendered; and
WHEREAS, these geographic adjustments are generally done administratively by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and
WHEREAS, for the years 2004 and 2005, however, Congress intervened and enacted legislation that set the geographic practice cost indices for the State of Alaska and set each of the three indices at a very high floor of 1.67; and
WHEREAS, in contrast, the geographic practice cost indices for Hawaii in 2005 were 1.001, 1.118, and 0.800 for the indices related to physician work, practice expense, and malpractice expense, respectively; and
WHEREAS, the congressional legislation for Alaska no longer applies and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has resumed setting the geographic practice cost indices for Alaska and the rest of the nation and its localities; and
WHEREAS, the unreasonably low geographic practice cost indices for Hawaii have an adverse effect on the level of physician payments for services rendered in Hawaii, thereby limiting Medicare and Medicaid recipients' access to quality health care; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the House of Representatives concurring, that Congress is respectfully requested to recognize that the physician fee amounts for Hawaii that result from the numeric values of the geographic practice cost indices assigned to Hawaii by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services do not accurately reflect the payment levels that physicians rendering services in Hawaii should be receiving for those services and to enact legislation to increase the geographic practice cost indices for Hawaii; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the President and Majority Leader of the Senate of the United States Congress, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress.
Medicare Reimbursements