SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Dede Feldman

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE SUPERINTENDENT OF INSURANCE TO CONDUCT A STUDY OF HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS IN THE STATE.

     WHEREAS, the world health organization of the united nations reports that more money per person is spent on health care in the United States than in any other nation in the world; and

     WHEREAS, studies show that a significant portion of overall health care costs comes from administrative expenses; and

     WHEREAS, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein report in The New England Journal of Medicine that these administrative costs consume thirty-one percent of health spending in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, much of health care administration involves a duplication of efforts and a lack of coordination in setting standards; and

     WHEREAS, health professional credentialing has been identified as a particularly cumbersome and duplicative process for many health professionals, resulting in expense and delay; and

     WHEREAS, health care professionals are known to expend an enormous amount of resources verifying patient insurance eligibility and coverage; and

     WHEREAS, due to variable implementation of health information technology, health care providers and insurers report that they must often maintain duplicative paper and electronic recordkeeping and billing systems at high cost; and

     WHEREAS, nearly every health insurer has its own codes and procedures for processing health care claims, a plurality that costs health professionals and patients a great deal of annoyance and resources; and

     WHEREAS, there is currently a plurality of standards applied in health care utilization review, as many individual insurers set their own standards;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the superintendent of insurance be requested to convene a health care administrative costs study group comprising experts in health care administration and finance, from both the public and private sectors, to do a study of administrative costs in New Mexico's private insurance market; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the superintendent of insurance report the findings of the study conducted by the health care administrative costs study group to the legislative health and human services committee and the legislative finance committee by November 1, 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the superintendent of insurance, the chair of the legislative health and human services committee and the chair and vice chair of the legislative finance committee.

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