Joint Task Force on Health Care Costs and Quality
Active dates:2001-2003
Function: The Joint Task Force on Health Care Costs and Quality was formed by Governor Ventura along with legislative leaders in November, 2001, to generate immediate and longer-term recommendations to create sustainable and significant improvements for Minnesota's health care system. The 2002 Minnesota Legislature directed the Joint Task Force on Health Care Costs and Quality to report on whether the law (Minn. Stat. 62J.17 Subd. 6a) has reduced health care costs or improved health care quality since its enactment in 1992.
History:
In the early 1990s, the Minnesota Legislature enacted wide-reaching legislation intended to bring about changes to the health care system, including insurance reforms, the creation of the MinnesotaCare subsidized insurance program, global expenditure limits, and retrospective capital expenditure reporting for health care providers. Capital expenditure reporting was created as a temporary measure until all providers were working within capitated Integrated Service Networks (ISNs) or a regulated rate system. The stopgap measure was thought necessary in order to prevent the proliferation of new health care facilities and equipment, which the Legislature had deemed a significant cost driver. Although many of the reforms enacted in 1992 have been repealed, the capital expenditure reporting law remains intact. In 2002, there was considerable debate over the future of the law, and the Legislature directed the Joint Task Force on Health Care Costs and Quality to study the impact of the capital expenditure reporting law contained in Minnesota Statute, section 62J.17, for a health care provider making a major spending commitment. This report will examine whether the law has reduced health care costs or improved health care quality since its enactment in 1992 (paragraph taken from the introduction of the report linked below).
The report linked below was assigned to the task force in November, 2001. In July, 2002, the task force asked the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to produce a first draft of the capital expenditure study for its review. After reviewing several drafts of the report, the Joint Task Force approved a final version in January, 2003.
Membership:
The task force is composed of ten legislators as well as five members of the Governor's cabinet: Senator Linda Berglin, Senator Dallas Sams, Senator Michelle Fischbach, Senator Sheila Kiscaden, Representative Bill Haas, Representative Carl Jacobson, Representative Neva Walker, Representative Tom Huntley, Commissioner of Commerce Jim Bernstein, Commissioner of Employee Relations Julien Carter, Commissioner of Finance Pamela Wheelock, Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, and Human Services Commissioner Michael O'Keefe.
Note: The Legislative Reference Library may have additional reports on or by this group available through our catalog.
Documents/Articles:
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 2001.
Record last updated:
10/02/2015
All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These
materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.