Senator aims to lift firms' role in health plan

Senator Richard T. Moore says the Romney administration's proposed standards for company contributions to employees' healthcare insurance are inadequate and that he may seek to change them through a bill intended to correct technical defects in the healthcare reform law.

Moore, chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care and one of the legislators who forged a compromise between competing healthcare reform proposals this year, said regulations proposed by the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy do not reflect the intent of the law.

Under the proposed rules, companies would be exempt from a $295-per-employee annual assessment if at least one-quarter of their workers sign up for a company-sponsored health plan. Those that don't meet that standard could still avoid the assessment if they contribute a minimum of 33 percent to individual health insurance premiums. The assessment applies only to companies with at least 11 employees.

Moore, Democrat of Uxbridge, said the median premium contribution by companies that now provide insurance to their employees is about 75 percent of the total cost.

``An employer who's not contributing 50 percent isn't doing their fair share," he said. ``We opted not to spell out what `fair share' is in the law and give the administration some flexibility. But they're pushing the envelope."

Moore said he is considering using the Senate's version of the technical correction bill -- typically used to deal with typographical errors and internal inconsistencies in legislation already passed -- to incorporate a higher standard into the law. If that effort is blocked by Governor Mitt Romney, Moore said, he would try to pass a corrective law when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

``As far as I'm concerned, we'll correct it now or we'll correct it later," said Moore, who wrote to the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy last month objecting to the proposed standards.

Dick Powers, a spokesman for the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, said the final regulations due Aug. 29 will reflect the comments it has received.

``We are taking all the testimony into consideration and will use it to develop the final regulations. ``We are following the letter, as well as the spirit, of the law."

The House already passed its bill to make technical corrections to the reform law. The Senate is close to finalizing its version for a vote. The two versions would then have to be reconciled in a committee, and a vote could take place in an informal session.

Moore's comments came after numerous healthcare advocates, unions, and other organizations criticized the proposed standards and asked the healthcare division to increase the minimum company contribution to avoid the assessment to 50 percent of an insurance premium.

Leaders of business and taxpayer groups endorsed the state's proposed regulations.

Michael Widmer , president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said he was at the meeting where a compromise was forged between Senate, House, and administration versions of healthcare reform and that there was no contemplation of a specific contribution by businesses to avoid the assessment. He said Moore's attempt to change that could threaten the success of the plan, which is intended to insure the roughly 500,000 Massachusetts residents who lack coverage.

``The senator's proposal goes well beyond a technical correction and would open up the substantive issues around employer assessment which created a deadlock for months," said Widmer. ``It could potentially jeopardize the consensus that produced the reform law ."

In public testimony Wednesday before the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, Widmer also said setting the standard for companies to avoid the assessment too high could hurt workers.

``Employers who cannot afford to subsidize the entire premium but who wish to make a modest contribution to the costs of an employee's policy should be encouraged to do so without incurring the fair share assessment," he said.

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.