HB 1851 -- Missouri Universal Health Assurance Program

Sponsor:  Bland

This bill establishes the Missouri Universal Health Assurance
Program.  The program is a publicly financed, statewide insurance
program that will provide comprehensive and necessary health care
services for Missouri residents.

The Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services is
required to divide the population of the state into six regional
health planning and policy development districts.  An advisory
council of 13 members will be established for each district.  The
advisory councils will assist the board of governors of the
program in creating an annual comprehensive state health care
plan as well as developing a transportation plan for indigent,
elderly, and disabled clients.

The program will be administered by a 23-member board of
governors, of whom 14 members will be appointed by the Governor,
with the advice and consent of the Senate.  The directors of the
departments of Social Services, Health and Senior Services, and
Mental Health will be ex-officio members; and the board will
include minority and disabled individuals.  The board will be
responsible for monitoring expenditures, adopting rules,
employing staff, and studying methods for incorporating
institutional and long-term care benefits into the program.  The
board is also required to submit an annual report to the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, the President Pro Tem of the
Senate, and the Governor with recommendations for changes in
health insurance and health care laws.

Prior to the implementation of the comprehensive plan, the board
is required to appoint advisory subcommittees of health care
researchers and ethics experts and conduct public hearings.  The
comprehensive plan is required to seek and secure the delivery of
the most cost-effective health care services.

The bill also establishes the Missouri Health Care Trust Fund
which will be used to finance the program.  Revenues held in the
fund are not subject to appropriation or allotment by the state
or any political subdivision of the state.  Various accounts are
created within the fund for specific purposes.

Every person who is a resident of Missouri, regardless of
pre-existing conditions, will be eligible to receive benefits for
covered services.  Persons who are not residents but are employed
in Missouri will be eligible for benefits if a health premium
surcharge is paid.  The board is required to request that the
program be made available to federal employees and retirees while
they are residents of Missouri.  Certain health care services are
excluded from coverage.

The program is required to pay the expenses of institutional
providers of health care, and each provider is required to
negotiate an annual budget with the program which will cover
anticipated expenses.  The program will reimburse independent
providers of health care on a fee-for-service basis.  Other
insurers and employers may offer benefits that do not duplicate
those offered by the program.

To finance the program, every Missouri resident is required to
pay a health premium surcharge which will be collected by the
Department of Revenue and deposited into the Missouri Health Care
Trust Fund.  The surcharge, in addition to the state income tax,
will be imposed on a resident's adjusted gross income.

No later than 30 days after the effective date of the bill, the
Department of Social Services is required to apply to the United
States Secretary of Health and Human Services for all health care
program waivers that would enable the state to deposit federal
funds into the Missouri Health Care Trust Fund.  The department
is also required to identify other federal funding sources.

Specific sections of the bill will become effective April 1 of
the year following the award of a waiver by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services.  Notice of the receipt
of the waiver must be given to the Revisor of Statutes.

The bill contains a referendum clause.

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated November 29, 2006 at 9:44 am