BOSTON—Senate President Therese Murray said Wednesday that her plan to control health care insurance costs for small businesses is critical to jump-starting the Massachusetts economy.
The bill unveiled at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast helps small businesses by ensuring that health insurance carriers offer affordable products, addresses rate volatility and makes sure premium payments are spent on health care, and not administrative costs or salaries. Murray plans to file it within a month.
"Health care costs ... are squeezing small businesses to the point of layoffs and in many cases outright extinction," she said.
As part of her plan, Murray is asking health care providers to contribute $100 million this year to insurers for reducing small business premiums. She said her plan could reduce small business health insurance costs by 2.5 percent. The state's largest hospital chain, Partners HealthCare Systems Inc., has already offered to contribute $40 million, according to a Murray spokesman.
Murray said she also plans to file legislation to benefit the longterm viability of the state's health care system by replacing the current fee-for-service system, which pays providers for each procedure or visit and is seen as costly and inefficient.
She delivered her speech just two days after a judge ruled against Massachusetts health insurers in a dispute over premiums with state regulators. A Superior Court judge denied a request from the insurers that the court allow them to continue with planned 2010 rate increases.
The insurers said state's decision earlier this month to reject nearly all of their proposed 2010 premium increases will cause "destabilizing" losses because of rising costs.
