This is not the official budget document.

General Appropriations Act FY2008

Division of Insurance
Data Current as of:  10/29/2007



Homeowners’ Insurance Commission

SECTION 84.   There shall be a special commission to review the current state of the homeowners' insurance market. The commission shall study the availability and affordability of property insurance, the relevant rate-driving factors, the cost of reinsurance and the current use of storm damage prediction data and shall consider any actuarial methods, principles, standards, models or output ranges that have the potential for improving the accuracy of or reliability of hurricane loss projections. The commission shall evaluate the potential benefits and disadvantages of the creation of a state-run board on hurricane loss projection methodology to provide actuarial guidelines and standards for projection of hurricane losses as well as for a state-run catastrophic event fund. The commission shall consist of: the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on financial services or their designees, who shall co-chair the commission; the house minority leader, or his designee; the senate minority leader, or his designee; 1 member of the house of representatives; 1 member of the senate, both of whom shall represent Cape Cod or another coastal area; the state treasurer or his designee; the commissioner of insurance or his designee, the attorney general or his designee; a representative from the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association; 2 representatives from property casualty insurers, one of whom must be from a company with its principle place of business in Massachusetts and in the top 10 writers of homeowners insurance in Massachusetts by market share to be selected by the Massachusetts Insurance Federation; 1 representative to be selected by the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents; 1 representative to be selected by the Reinsurance Association of America; 1 representative from the Center for Insurance Research; and 1 representative from the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. The commission shall conduct not less than 4 meetings, the first of which shall convene on or before July 21, 2007, and it shall hold at least 1 public hearing on Cape Cod or other coastal area.

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner shall not approve any rate filing required under section 5 of chapter 175C of the General Laws until after the commission has filed its report or October 1, 2007, which ever is earlier. The commission shall file a report of its findings, including any legislative or regulatory recommendations, with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate on or before October 1, 2007. The joint committee on financial services shall hold a public hearing on these recommendations on or before November 1, 2007.

 

Electronic Health Records System Task Force

SECTION 86.   ** Item is being returned for amendment. Text of recommendations can be found in Attachment F.



(a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the executive office of health and human services shall establish an electronic health records system task force to provide a structure that enables the state to act in a leadership role in the development of state and federal standards for, and in the implementation and use of, an electronic health records system for children in foster care, individuals and dependents enrolled in the MassHealth and SCHIP programs, and individuals and dependents enrolled in commonwealth care or safety net care programs.



(b) The task force shall consist of not more than 9 members, appointed by the secretary of health and human services, who shall represent entities with expertise in developing or implementing electronic health records including, but not limited to, the United States Veterans Administration facilities in the commonwealth, multi-facility hospital systems in the commonwealth, the University of Massachusetts medical school, the e-Rx Collaborative, MA-SHARE, the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, the Massachusetts e-Health Collaborative, and MassPro, the commonwealth's federally designated Quality Improvement Organization. The chief information officer for the executive office of health and human services shall serve as coordinator of the task force. The task force shall also consist of 2 members of the senate to be appointed by the president of the senate and 1 member of the senate to be appointed by the minority leader of the senate, 2 members of the house of representatives to be appointed by the speaker of the house and 1 member of the house of representatives to be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives, the commissioner of insurance, the commissioner of medical assistance, the commissioner of social services, the commissioner of health care finance and policy, the executive director of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety, and the executive director of the commonwealth connector shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the task force.



(c) The task force shall: (1) develop an electronic health records system that provides linkages between multiple settings including, but not limited to, the MassHealth and SCHIP programs, programs administered by the commonwealth connector and programs serving children in foster care, that utilize health records and that is consistent with requirements for community health records and electronic prescribing; (2) evaluate the economic model and the anticipated benefits of electronic health records; and (3) provide quarterly updates to the governor and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chairs of the joint committee on health care financing regarding progress in the development of national standards and the work of the task force.