MEDICAL CARE: CHAMBERS, HOSPITALS PROPOSE REFORM PLAN

The presidents of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Missouri Hospital Association will hold a series of news conferences next week to unveil a package of health care reform proposals they want the state legislature to consider this year.

The package was drafted by the Missouri Health Care Forum, which has representatives of various groups in the state hoping to reach a compromise on how to deal with the rising costs of health care and health insurance in Missouri.

Jo Frappier of the Missouri chamber and Charles L. Bowman of the hospital association will present the reform package in Cape Girardeau at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Chamber of Commerce office.

The plan is entitled a "Blueprint for Action." Frappier and Bowman served as co-chairman of the Missouri Health Care Forum. Participants in the forum are from business, labor and insurance concerns and are health care providers.

On Dec. 18, one in a series of community meetings was held in Cape Girardeau to explain the plan and seek input.

Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce President Bob Hendrix, who attended the meeting here last month, said the proposal that will be presented on Tuesday reflects input from the community meetings.

He said health care and insurance is the primary concern of most businesses and it is important that everyone work together to develop a common-sense approach.

After reviewing the initial draft, Hendrix said, "It is one of those things where I don't know if it goes too far or not far enough."

An uncertainty is the cost of the reforms, Hendrix said. The group that drafted the plan suggests the cost will be $43 million, but Hendrix said he is skeptical that costs can be kept that low.

"I will say this about the plan: it is better than anything I've seen in the legislature the last two years," said Hendrix. "I think this plan is more of a common-sense approach."

One of the reasons the Missouri Health Care Forum was organized was because of growing support in the General Assembly for a plan of universal health care. Tony Rinehart of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce said many legislators were looking at the universal health plan because they wanted to do something to deal with the problem.

Rinehart said the forum was organized to provide an alternative to universal health care and to open a dialogue between different groups in the state to reach a compromise.

Hendrix said universal health care, although it might sound good on the surface, is not the answer. Some projections show the cost could double Missouri's budget of nearly $9 billion.

Hendrix said businesses are affected two ways by the rising costs of health care. The companies that have it, especially bigger companies, are finding they have to pay more for insurance, and it is eating heavily into profits and in some instances taking away all profits, he said. Smaller companies are having difficulty finding companies to provide insurance for them, and when they do the cost is simply prohibitive, he said.

"It is really a big problem right now, and it has become an increasingly bigger one over the last several years," said Hendrix.

Last year the Missouri chamber held a series of meetings around the state asking businesses what their top five concerns were, said Hendrix. "Health costs were number one in every town they had forums in; it was far and away the biggest concern the business community had," he said.

State chamber officials responded by talking with other groups trying to find a common ground.

"They are trying to get everyone involved in coming up with a solution that doesn't tear everybody up," said Hendrix. "Everyone has to give some; the health care industry, business, the insurance industry, and the consumer will all have to give a little."

Although it is emerging as one of the top issues facing the state and the federal governments, Hendrix said he doubts legislators will approve the plan being proposed this year.

"It would need a tremendous groundswell of support to get this passed in 1992," said Hendrix. "I don't know if a solution is really clear in everybody's mind enough to get that groundswell at this time."

Another factor will be what kind of action is taken at the federal level.

Some components of the plan include an expansion of the Missouri Medicaid program and providing a tax credit to small employers if they provide insurance to employees. Local option taxes for indigent health care is also included in the proposal as well as guidelines to make insurance claims more uniform.

Frappier said "Blueprint for Action is just a road map, not a final product, designed to guide the Missouri Health Care Forum over the next several years as it continues to develop ways to reduce health care costs and to improve access to health care."

Bowman said the forum has "worked diligently to create a reform package that will benefit all of Missouri's citizens. Although the nation has yet to implement a reform package, Missouri has chosen to take the lead to solve the problems of health care access and affordability."

Everyone agreed the health care issue is very complicated and will take a lot of hard work to resolve.

"The whole package is a little hard to comprehend, and that will make it extremely difficult to get passed," said Hendrix.

He said: "Anytime you introduce major legislation like this you have got a period of time between two and three years before it is going to be seriously considered. I think this plan is an attempt to open the door with the legislature and get a lot more serious consideration and negotiations."