State legislative news: Mass. legislature poised to consider cost control plan

May 5 2012

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the legislature approves a bill giving collective bargaining rights to home health care workers and goes against leadership to gut a bill that would loosen requirements for suing a health care provider.

Boston Globe: House Plans To Release Health Care Cost-Control Plan Friday
Legislative leaders said Thursday that they will release comprehensive plans to control health care costs in Massachusetts within the next week. The House has scheduled a press conference Friday afternoon at 2:30 ... The Senate plans to release its cost-control plan on Wednesday (Kowalczyk, 5/3).

Politico Pro: Massachusetts's Next Act: Payment Reform
What will the caps look like? A plan offered last year by Gov. Deval Patrick would have offered financial incentives for doctors and health care providers to keep their patients healthy. But now, House and Senate lawmakers intend to go further than the governor, imposing a growth target for all health care spending in Massachusetts (Cheney, 5/3).

The Connecticut Mirror: Labor Proposal Passes Senate, Heads For Malloy's Signature
A controversial proposal to give collective bargaining rights to certain home care workers and daycare providers is headed to the governor's desk (Levin Becker, 5/3). 

The Connecticut Mirror: In An Upset, It's Docs Over Lawyers, 74-69
You don't see this every day: The speaker, majority leader and minority leader all on the losing side of a 74-69 vote in the state House of Representatives. On a bipartisan vote, the House on Thursday gutted a bill aimed at loosening the requirements for bringing a medical malpractice lawsuit (Pazniokas, 5/3).

The Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle: Bill Would Boost Indian Reservation Health Care
Lawmakers on Thursday passed AB1896, which would allow practitioners licensed in other states to work for tribal health care programs without obtaining a California license. Democratic Assemblyman Wes Chesbro of Arcata wrote the bill to address the chronic shortage of medical professionals in the state's 31 tribal health programs (5/3).