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S.F. No. 203 - Oversight of Rural Health Cooperatives Arrangements
Author: Senator Gary W. Kubly
Prepared by: Katie Cavanor, Senate Counsel (651/296-3801)
Date: February 9, 2009

S.F. No. 203 establishes a system for the Commissioner of Health to review and supervise the health care cooperative contractual arrangements entered into under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 62R, to ensure that these arrangements are not in violation of state or federal antitrust law.

Section 1, subdivision 1, states the intent of this section.

Subdivision 2, paragraph (a), requires the commissioner to review and authorize contracts and business or financial arrangements between the health care cooperative and its members to provide health care services. This paragraph requires that all contracts and financial arrangements be submitted to the commissioner on an application for approval.

Paragraph (b) states that the commissioner may request additional information within 30 days after receiving the application for approval. If the commissioner does not request additional information and does not act within 60 days after receiving the application, the application is deemed approved. The commissioner is prohibited from denying an application unless the commissioner determines that the proposed arrangement is likely to result in higher health care costs or diminished access to or quality of health care than would occur in the competitive market.

Paragraph (c) permits the commissioner to condition approval of the arrangement on the cooperative modifying the arrangement to eliminate any restriction on competition that is not reasonably related to improving access or quality or to protect against abuses of private economic power and to ensure oversight by the state.

Paragraph (d) requires the commissioner to monitor arrangements that are approved to ensure that they remain in compliance with the terms of the application or any conditions of approval.

Subdivision 3 states what must be included in the application for approval.

Subdivision 4 requires the health care cooperative to submit with the application a fee of $2,000 to cover the cost of reviewing and monitoring the arrangement.

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