THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100296
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: General Assembly 1996
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE AND BRIAN KELLEY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
A General Assembly committee on Friday approved a consumer disclosure bill for managed care health plans, but weakened a measure aimed at ensuring women unlimited access to their gynecologists.
The disclosure bill would require managed care companies to tell patients whether their doctors are paid bonuses if they limit care or provide few referrals to specialists.
Supporters - led by the Medical Society of Virginia - argue patients deserve to know if their doctor is operating under financial incentives aimed at rationing care.
``The clear light of day is all we want,'' Chesterfield Del. John Watkins told members of the House Committee on Corporations, Insurance and Banking.
The bill, which now goes to the full House of Delegates, would require insurers to provide the information to companies buying group policies. Supporters said they hoped employers would pass information along to their employees.
The disclosure requirement is part of a high-stakes turf fight between physicians and a coalition of insurers and large employers over control of managed care.
Managed care proponents say the system, which now accounts for an estimated 20 percent of the state's health system, is holding the line on health costs. But physicians contend that managed care puts too much emphasis on cost and not enough on quality of care.
One skirmish involves women's complaints that primary care physicians increasingly refuse to refer them to gynecologists.
Del. Gladys B. Keating, D-Fairfax, introduced a bill giving women direct access to gynecological care. ``I'm speaking for the women of Virginia,'' she said.
The corporations committee, however, agreed to guarantee women at least one annual visit to their gynecologist and make it easier to get referrals for additional visits. But the panel amended Keating's bill to give primary care physicians a veto on subsequent referrals.
The House Appropriations Committee on Friday agreed to award Edward William Honaker $500,000 for 10 years spent in prison for a crime he did not commit.
The bill, which would give Honaker $150,000 in cash and a $350,000 annuity paid over 10 years, will be considered by the full House next week.
The Roanoke man was convicted of rape in 1984 but was granted an ``unconditional pardon'' after tests showed that his DNA did not match that of the rapist.
Del. Clifton A. Woodrum, D-Roanoke, who introduced the bill, said an onslaught of similar petitions is unlikely because of the increased use of DNA testing in recent years.
The compromise motor-voter law cleared the state Senate Friday after its patron removed its emergency status.
The change would make the law effective July 1 instead of immediately after the governor signs it. The effect of that would mean the new law, which would allow people to register to vote by mail and at some government offices, would not be in effect in time for the June Republican primary.
On Thursday, the emergency measure passed 26-18, six votes short of the four-fifths needed for such a bill. Friday, state Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax, brought the bill back, but without emergency status. It passed 23-16.
The bill now moves to the House, which is working on its own version.
On a 95-5 vote, the House approved a bill that would allow parents to enroll their children in school-based random drug-testing programs.
The bill's sponsor, Virginia Beach Del. Frank W. Wagner, said the program would give students more incentive to resist peer pressure to use illegal drugs.
The measure, which now goes to the Senate, would allow school systems to set up drug-screening programs. Students would have to agree to participate, families would pay for the tests and the results would be made available only to the parents.
The House also voted to approve a bill that would prohibit teen-age children under the age of 16 from riding in the back of open pickup trucks on interstate highways. The measure, which Gov. George F. Allen vetoed last year, passed by a 78-21 margin.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996 PROPOSED BILL PROPOSED LAW by CNB