HLS 20RS-1572 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 83
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 CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
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, the Senate Committee on Finance, and
6 the legislative committees on health and 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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HCR NO. 83
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 Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
9urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study the costs and benefits of
10setting Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services at levels that are at least
11equal to Medicare rates for those services.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that on or before December 31, 2020, the Louisiana
13Department of Health shall report findings from the study called for in this Resolution to the
14House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance, the House
15Committee on Health and Welfare, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, and the
16David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library.
17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
18secretary 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)]
HCR 83 Original 2020 Regular Session Echols
Request 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 and to report findings from the study to certain legislative
committees on or before Dec. 31, 2020.
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