| RIBGH Meetings & Events |
• May 9, 2008
General Membership Meeting: “2008 Legislative and Public Policy Outlook on Health Care Reform"
• June 9, 2008
Frontiers of Healthcare 2008: Neurotechnology, From the Lab to Everyday Life; conference sponsored by The Division of Biology and Medicine of Brown University; click here.
• September 19, 2008
RIBGH General Membership Meeting
• December 12, 2008
RIBGH General Membership Meeting
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| Breaking News |
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• April 21, 2008
RI Getting $4.2 Million to Reduce Use of Hospital ERs, click here.
• April 15, 2008
Landmark Eyes Merger With Memorial Hospital , click here.
• April 14 , 2008
Lifespan Leaders Focus on Patient Safety, click here.
• April 8, 2008
In MA, Universal Coverage Strains Care , click here.
• April 7, 2008
Hospital Compare Tool , click here.
• March 2008
Analysis Finds Sharp Increase in Employers' Health Costs, With Wide Variations By Occupation and Establishment Size, click here.
• March 17, 2008
We're All Paying for Those Without Health Care, click here.
• February 15, 2008
Lt. Governor's Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008, click here.
• February 11, 2008
Langevin co-sponsors plan for national health care, A plan to offer affordable health care coverage to all Americans was announced this morning by U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin.click here.
• February 5, 2008
Curbing obesity, smoking doesn’t save money Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn’t save money, researchers reported yesterday.click here.
• February 5, 2008
Pinpointing employers’ health costs On average, employers in Rhode Island spend $10,300 per worker last year, with limited competition among insurers boosting the cost, a survey says.click here.
• January 31, 2008
Survey: Massachusetts Employers, Employees Paying Most for Health Care Plans - The health care industry and voters will be watching closely over the next year to gauge the success -or failure- of major health care reform efforts, especially in states like Massachusetts.click here.
• January 28, 2008
Senate Panel Kills Schwarzenegger Health Coverage Bill - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suffered his biggest legislative defeat when a Senate committee blocked his yearlong effort to provide health care coverage to most Californians without insurance. click here.
• January 27, 2008
THE ROAD TO THE PRESIDENCY; 2008 VOTERS GUIDE; HEALTH CARE: Insurance funding - With health care emerging as a chief domestic issue in the 2008 presidential race, the various candidates are pitching numerous platforms designed to reduce costs and broaden coverage. click here.
• January 24, 2008
Health plan pools studied: State Senate looks at coverage option - The Michigan Senate's health policy committee heard a national expert on individual health insurance describe how most states have abandoned the current system used by Michigan in favor of pools that provide policies for people with costlier health problems. click here.
• January 4, 2008
OHIC announces Blue Cross Direct Pay rate filing and hearing - Blue Cross has asked the OHIC to
approve rate increases for its line of Direct Pay products. For more information regarding this hearing, click here.
• January 4, 2008
Hospitals on Losing Path - The fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was rough on Kent and on Care New England. While no other institution reported losses quite as large as Kent’s, other RI community hospitals had substantial losses as well. More
• December 23, 2007
Firms Find Ways Around MA State Health Law - To comply with the new state insurance law, a Burger King franchisee in Boston expanded coverage from just his salaried staff to all full-timers. To control his costs, he halved the share he pays. More
• December 21, 2007
California Health Care Reform Passes Major Hurdle - The California State Assembly passed a comprehensive health care reform bill on Dec. 17. The measure moves on to the state Senate in January, where it faces increasing opposition. More
• December 18, 2007
Lifespan-Care New England merger gains FTC approval - The proposed merger of Lifespan and Care New England moved one step closer to reality as the Federal Trade Commission concluded its review, the leaders of the two nonprofit health care systems said in a joint announcement today. More
• December 3, 2007
Rhode Island Legislative Issues Brief. Health-care Legislative Actions by the RI General Assembly on 10/30/07;
Proposed Lifespan/Care New England Merger Under Review;
Lt. Governor Roberts Launches Mission: Healthy RI Advisory Work Group. Click here for details.
• November 14, 2007
"Poll finds broad business support for health plan, Most surveyed say law should target all firms". Click here.
• October 16, 2007
Lt. Governor Roberts will be delivering a major speech on health care in RI on Tuesday, October 16th at 12 noon as part of the URI Feinstein Providence Campus 2007 Distinguished Lecture Series. For invitation and lecture specifics, click here.
• September 27, 2007
Mercer Survey reports presented at the 9/21 RIBGH Health Summit on are now available for download from our web site on our Resources page
• August 24 , 2007
"HR Transformation v2.0: It's All About the Business" is a white paper from Mercer Health & Benefits which discusses results of Mercer's Global HR Transformation Study. It answers such critical questions as "Where hasn't HR made progress and why?" and "What
will the successful HR function of the future
look like?" More
• August 22 , 2007
"A Step-by-Step Approach to Intro-
ducing Health Savings Accounts"
This article by J. Michael Vittoria, Member of RIBGH Board of Directors, will appear in the September issue of Benefits & Compensation Digest but you can read
it on our website now. Click here
• July 25, 2007
R.I. OHIC to hold public hearing on August 29th on
proposed Regulation 11- Small Employer Health Insurance Availability
Regulation. More
•July 25, 2007
How are Rhode Islanders
affected
by Massachusetts healthcare reform? Click
here
• July 2 , 2007
Rhode Island seeks nominees for new wellness
awards -- Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and the RI
Dept. of Health yesterday announced they are seeking
nominees for the Governor’s Awards
for Wellness Innovation.
Wanted are companies and other organizations with "creative
programs and policies that address the wellness needs of
their employees," targeting seatbelt use, tobacco
control, healthy weight,
physical activity and nutrition. More |
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| Legislative Affairs |
• July 11, 2007
R.I.
health insurers are preparing new bare-bones plans with
lower premiums, but higher deductibles and pared-down coverage.
A bill passed by the General Assembly, and signed by the governor
last week, enables businesses
with 50 or fewer employees to sign up for these bare-bones
plans if they have not offered insurance to their employees
in the previous 12 months. More
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| 2007 Healthcare
Summit Sponsors |
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2007 Recap
February
13, 2007 Keynote speaker Governor Donald L. Carcieri
presented his Five Key Healthcare Initiatives and gave
his perspective on universal access discussions. Attendees
also received an update on RIBGH's "Adopt a Company" Wellness
Program and an overview of RIBGH's 2007 goals.
May
10, 2007 This meeting provided an "Outlook on Rhode
Island's Legislative and Regulatory Health Care Agenda " from a distinguished
panel including Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts; RI Insurance
Commissioner Christopher Koller; Senator Joshua Miller,
Member of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee
and Chair of the Small Business Advocacy Council’s Legislative Workgroup;
and
Terrie Wetle, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Medicine for Public
Health & Public Policy and Professor of Community Health
at Brown Medical School and Chair of the Statewide Coordinated
Health Planning Advisory Committee. Two powerpoint presentations
made at this meeting are now available on our
site.
September 21, 2007 The 1st Annual RIBGH Healthcare Summit was highly successful. This 5-hour multi-session program was well attended and covered a variety of healthcare initiatives directly related to RI's business community. The format contained general sessions as well as panel discussion group break-outs. Please see above link for specific topics covered.
December 7, 2007 Two nationally respected speakers in the area of "Innovative Approaches in Outcomes-Based Health Care Management and their Applicability in RI" addressed the members of RIBGH at his general session meeting. Guest speakers included Dr. Barry Bunting, Clinical Manager in the Pharmacy Department at Mission Health and Hospitals of North Carolina, Jan Berger, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical officer for CVS/Caremark, and Chris Koller, Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner.
2006 Recap
February 9, 2006 "Adopt
a Wellness Program" was the theme of this meeting, with eight guest
speakers, including Todd Cipriani, President of the Worksite Well-
ness Council, and Sheila Jacobs, Dean of Wellness University, Lifespan.
May 11, 2006 "Health
Care Information Technology" was
the theme of RIBGH's May meeting. Guest speakers included Charles Eaton,
MD, MS, from Memorial Hospital, David Gifford, MD, MPH, Director of RI
Dept of Health, and Michael Follick, PhD, CEO of Abacus Health Solutions.
September 14, 2006 Senator Elizabeth Roberts
and Finance Committee Chair Steven Costantino, Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Oversight, joined
Chris Koller, Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner, in presenting their outlook on Rhode Island's Legislative Health Care Agenda.
November 16, 2006
Stephen J. Farrell, CEO, United Healthcare of New England,
and Richard P. Farias, Executive VP, Blue Cross Blue Shield
of RI, provided a "View from the Executive Suite." Part
of this meeting was dedicated to receiving input from members for
the purpose of plan-
ning RIBGH's strategic direction for 2007.
2005 Recap
May 5, 2005 First
official meeting of RIBGH where the mission and goals
were drafted, our charter.
June 20, 2005 Congressman
Patrick Kennedy briefed the group on H.R. 2234, "The 21st Century
Health Information Act," which
is a bill designed to help electronic medical records become a reality
in the United States.
August 18, 2005 Al
Verrecchia, CEO of Hasbro hosted our meeting and briefed RIBGH on the "CEO
Perspective on Healthcare" and Laura
Adams, CEO of Rhode Island Quality Institute, briefed
the group on RIQI's mission and goals.
September 13, 2005 George
Vecchione, CEO of Lifespan hosted our meeting and provided unique insights
into our healthcare delivery system; he was joined by Chris Koller
and Dr. David Gifford, Director of RI Dept. of Health.
October 19, 2005 Bob
Carniaux, SVP of HR at Hasbro, hosted a business meeting for
the RIBGH with participation from over 40 business
leaders.
December 14 , 2005 Dolores
Mitchell, Executive Director of Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission,
and Dr. David Gregg of Mercer, spoke about MA's Clinical Performance Improvement
project and how RI may be able to take advantage of what they learned.
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We hope you will find it a useful source of information about
healthcare issues in Rhode Island and the activities of RIBGH. To
learn more about our goals and objectives, click
here. |
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To download a Membership Application
Form (PDF),
click here. Benefits
of RIBGH membership include: |
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Informative, interesting, influential quarterly meetings; past speakers have included:
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- Governor Donald Carcieri – State of RI Healthcare Initiatives
- Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts – RI Healthcare Legislative Outlook
- RI Senator Joshua Miller – Chair of the Small Business Advocacy Council
- Representative Patrick Kennedy – 21st Century Health Information Act
- Al Verrechia, CEO of Hasbro – CEP Prospective on Healthcare
- Laura Adams, CEO Rhode Island Quality Institute – Health Info Technology
- George Vecchione, CEO Lifespan – RI Healthcare Delivery System
- Chris Koller, RI Health Insurance Commissioner
- Dr. David Gifford, Director of RI Department of Health
- Dolores Mitchell, Executive Director MA Group Insurance Commission
- Dr. Barry Bunting – Mission Hospital NC Asheville Project
- Dr. Jan Berger – SVP and Chief Clinical Officer for CVS
- Dr. Arthur Klein – SVP and Chief Physician Officer Brown Medical School
- Dr. Mary Reich Cooper – VP and Chief Quality Officer Brown Medical School
- H. John Keimig – CEO Quality partners of RI
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Active, informed Legislative Affairs Committee to represent the business viewpoint to the RI Legislature on healthcare issues in cooperation with the various Chambers of Commerce and the Human Resource Management Society of RI |
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Adopt a Company Wellness Program to help member companies establish an effective worksite wellness program |
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Comprehensive website chock full of in depth, current information relating to business healthcare issues, both national and local |
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Regular networking opportunities with fellow business executives and the influential leaders of the provider, insurer and regulatory communities |
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Free benchmark health insurance survey information from leading consultants in the industry |
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Ability through active committee membership to get deeply involved plotting the future of healthcare in RI |
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Access to the only business organization in Rhode Island dedicated to creating a proactive dialogue between the business community and State Government on matters of healthcare policy |
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Membership in the National Business Coalition on Health |
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Access to innovative health care solutions in RI (e.g. the Asheville Model Chronic Disease Treatment Healthcare Initiative) |
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All of the above and much, much more for less than $1 per employee per year |
| 2008 Annual Membership
Fees |
Based
on number of Rhode Island employees:
- Under 100 employees: $100
- 100 - 250 employees: $200
- 251 - 1,000 employees: $300
- Over 1,000 employees: $500
- Brokers / Insurers: $1,000
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| Some highlights of the expressed
goals and objectives of the RI Business Group on
Health: |
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Create a shared RI business community vision of health
care through hands-on involvement in the initiative from
CEO's, CFO's and HR Executives of member firms. |
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Create a proactive dialog between the business community
and state government (elected officials and administrative
agency leadership) on matters of healthcare policy, regulation
and legislation based upon the exercise of sound fiscal
judgment and quality standards. |
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Promote economic development by recom-
mending
solutions that lead to a financially responsible healthcare
cost s structure so that existing businesses seek to expand
and new businesses choose locating in Rhode Island. |
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Create a business community voice in the
state
promoting a "best return on healthcare investment" mindset,
through a statutory and regulatory framework designed to
create efficiency, cut waste, and improve/maintain quality
in our healthcare delivery system. |
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Improve data analysis and distribution within
our healthcare delivery system, i.e., hospital
and doctor quality and
performance, patient satisfaction and underlying cost structure
and underwriting structure used by health
insurance providers. |
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Promote health and wellness education with
the goal of helping employees become better consumers of healthcare services. |
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Represent special and unique needs of employers
in the state, from small to large. |
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Promote the elimination of unreasonable
regu-
latory hurdles, which serve as entry
barriers
to competition in the healthcare insurance market. |
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Create a model of success for other states to replicate.
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