2016 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 4
BY SENATOR BARROW
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To continue and provide with respect to the task force to study health services delivery and
financing in the Baton Rouge region created by House Concurrent Resolution No.
129 of the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislature.
WHEREAS, through House Concurrent Resolution No. 129 of the 2015 Regular
Session, the legislature formed a task force to study health services delivery and financing
in the Baton Rouge region; and
WHEREAS, the task force is composed of nineteen members who individually and
collectively, possess significant expertise in major aspects of the state's healthcare system,
such as direct provision of health services, healthcare financing, development of healthcare
workforce, and public health advocacy; and
WHEREAS, since its inception, the task force has held regular public meetings to
examine issues related to health services delivery and financing in the Baton Rouge region
including, without limitation, the following:
(1) Barriers to access to healthcare faced by low- to moderate-income persons.
(2) Impacts of cuts to federal disproportionate share hospital funding provided
through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that finance expansion of Medicaid
programs of states which elect to participate in Medicaid expansion.
(3) Effects on public health of the closure of the state-operated public hospital in
Baton Rouge and privatization of the services formerly delivered there.
(4) Impacts on private hospitals which do not operate under a cooperative endeavor
agreement with the state of providing uncompensated care.
(5) Policies which could expand the capacity of public and private urgent care clinics
to meet the healthcare needs of medically underserved populations; and
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WHEREAS, considering the profound changes in healthcare delivery and financing
in Baton Rouge that have occurred in the past several years, dramatically impacting access
to care in the city and surrounding region, the efforts of this task force are vitally important
at present and will remain so in the near term; and
WHEREAS, as evidenced by final passage of House Bill No. 1493 of the 2010
Regular Session requiring reports to the legislature relative to privatization of services of the
Earl K. Long Medical Center, which was the first of nine hospitals in the state's ten-hospital
system to be privatized, and by extensive debate concerning the state health system in every
session since 2010, the legislature continues to express deep concern about the fiscal and
public health consequences of hospital privatization since the outset of the privatization
efforts; and
WHEREAS, these circumstances are of serious concern to policymakers at the city,
regional, and state level; and
WHEREAS, for the foregoing reasons, continuation of the task force's efforts is a
priority of the legislature.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
continue the task force to study and make recommendations concerning health services
delivery and financing in the Baton Rouge region created by House Concurrent Resolution
No. 129 of the 2015 Regular Session.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative authority for the task force shall
continue through December 31, 2017.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the membership and purposes of the task force
shall continue as provided in House Concurrent Resolution No. 129 of the 2015 Regular
Session.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, the chief executive officer of the Baton Rouge
Area Foundation, the chief executive officer of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical
Center, the chief executive officer of the Baton Rouge General Health System, the chief
executive officer of Lane Regional Medical Center, the chief executive officer of Ochsner
Health System, the coroner of East Baton Rouge Parish, the administrator of East Baton
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Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services, the chief executive officer of the Baton Rouge
Area Chamber, the president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO, the lead organizer of Together
Baton Rouge, the president of the Capital Area Medical Society, the president of the
Campaign for Healthcare for Everyone - Louisiana, the president of the Louisiana Center for
Health Equity, and the secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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