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1996 SESSION

962264760
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 104
Senate Amendments in [ ] -- February 12, 1996
Requesting the Joint [ Commission on ] Health Care [ Commission ] to review and make recommendations concerning the Commonwealth's numerous governmental entities with responsibilities for or involvement in health care policy or regulation.
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Patron-- Woods
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Referred to the Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, perhaps the first governmental entity to develop health care policy in Virginia was the Board of Health, as the regulatory body concerned with prevention and treatment of infectious or communicable diseases; and

WHEREAS, with the advent of the modern health care system, its many complex treatment modalities and settings, and interactions between business and the altruistic activity of caring for those who are ill or poor or incompetent, the elaborate heterogeneous structure of health care in the United States took on many forms and many separate lines of communication; and

WHEREAS, the Joint Health Care Commission is granted broad statutory authority for examining and evaluating health policy and structure issues in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, in the exercise of this broad authority, the Commission has addressed many issues related to data collection, regulation, and competitive initiatives; and

WHEREAS, the Commission is, thereby, the most appropriate entity to examine the tangle of health policy, health regulatory, health services, and health data collection agencies that have grown to confusing proportions in recent years; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth has been very well served by many of these agencies and all of the people who perform such committed and thoughtful work for the health of our care systems and our people; and

WHEREAS, we have, unfortunately, reached the point at which efficiency may have begun to converge with mystification concerning which agencies have responsibility for what services, data, or regulation; and

WHEREAS, the time has come to examine the structure of Virginia's health-related agencies and to make assessments of the provided services in order to reorganize and simplify the chain of command and communications links; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Joint [ Commission on ] Health Care [ Commission ] be requested to review and make recommendations concerning the Commonwealth's numerous governmental entities with responsibilities for or involvement in health care policy or regulation. As an initial step in its study, the Commission is requested to identify the entities with health care or health care-related missions and to determine which functions and roles overlap or converge. The Commission shall examine and evaluate all such agencies having responsibilities for health policy, health regulation, health services, and health data collection and shall inventory these responsibilities and analyze the overlap and the gaps in services. The Commission shall make recommendations, by January 1, [ 1998 1997 ] , concerning an appropriate revision of these state agencies, which may include combining, separating, eliminating, or restructuring the many health-related duties spread throughout Virginia's government.

The Commission shall provide staff support for the study. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request.

The Commission shall complete its work in time to submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the [ 1998 1997 ] Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for processing legislative documents.