HLS 202ES-95 ORIGINAL
2020 Second Extraordinary Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 1
BY REPRESENTATIVE ECHOLS
HEALTH CARE: Requests a study of the costs and benefits of setting Medicaid
reimbursement rates for primary care services equivalent to Medicare rates for those
services
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study the costs and benefits of
3 setting Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services at levels that are at
4 least equal to Medicare rates for those services, and to report findings from the study
5 to the House Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and
6 Welfare.
7 WHEREAS, the term "primary care" refers to routine healthcare services delivered
8by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal healthcare
9needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of
10family and community; this care includes screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
11for the purpose of promoting a person's health and detecting and managing a person's disease
12or injury; and
13 WHEREAS, primary care is a vital component of any healthcare system and is
14essential for improving and maintaining the health of any population; and
15 WHEREAS, due to its interconnected problems of poor health outcomes and
16extensive health professional shortage areas, Louisiana has an especially pronounced
17statewide need for an expansion of primary care; and
18 WHEREAS, greater access to and utilization of routine primary and preventive care
19among members of any population, particularly a medically underserved one, reduces the
20population's need for more expensive forms of acute care; and
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HR NO. 1
1 WHEREAS, due to the measurable effects that expanding access to primary care has
2in health outcome improvements and health system cost reductions, an expansion of access
3to primary care in Louisiana is both responsible public health policy and sound fiscal policy;
4and
5 WHEREAS, enhancing healthcare provider reimbursement rates for primary care in
6the Louisiana Medicaid program is a direct incentive for increasing the availability of this
7much-needed care in our state.
8 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
9Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health
10to study the costs and benefits of setting Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care
11services at levels that are at least equal to Medicare rates for those services.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the benefits to be considered in this study shall
13include, without limitation, reductions in net costs of overall care for patients resulting from
14enhanced access to and quality of primary care.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Health shall report
16findings from the study called for in this Resolution to the House Committee on
17Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and Welfare prior to the convening of
18the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Health shall submit
20one print copy and one electronic copy of any report produced pursuant to this Resolution
21to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library as required by R.S. 24:772.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
23secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 1 Original 2020 Second Extraordinary Session Echols
Requests the La. Department of Health to study the costs and benefits of setting Medicaid
reimbursement rates for primary care services at levels that are at least equal to Medicare
rates for those services. Requests that the department report findings from the study to the
House Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and Welfare prior
to the convening of the 2021 R.S.
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