THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE AND ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
General Assembly members, faced with a no-win choice between two powerful coalitions, won a reprieve Tuesday when the two sides agreed to a one-year study of the future of managed health care.
Lawmakers, however, are still in the thick of emotional health issues that range from how often HMOs allow women to visit their gynecologists to whether insurance companies can prohibit doctors from telling patients about all available treatment options.
A House of Delegates panel is scheduled to vote on these issues by the end of the week.
At issue is the future of managed care. Advocates led by insurance companies and big business say the system has stemmed the annual double-digit increases for health insurance premiums. Critics, led by physicians, say concentrating on costs hurts quality of care.
The two sides agreed to a one-year legislative study of the most controversial proposal: Physicians want insurers to offer patients an affordable option of seeing doctors outside the managed care network.
Insurance companies say the so-called ``point of service'' option would defeat the purpose of coordinated health care and run up costs. FIRST TIE VOTE NULLIFIED
On their second day of trying, Virginia's 40 state senators found a way to deal with the first tie vote of the evenly divided Senate Tuesday: They nullified it, hoping such a thing won't happen again.
The constitutional dilemma first surfaced Monday. A bill that would amend the state Constitution to let voters petition laws to referendum was met with a 20-20 vote. Democrats and Republicans voted on both sides, but the tally gave Republicans a shudder when Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer added a nay - the 41st vote.
If Beyer, a Democrat, can break a tie in situations like that, he could keep the Senate's 20 Republicans from having a say in the budget, judicial appointments and other legislative whoppers, GOP leaders feared.
So Tuesday, Republicans amended the bill into oblivion. They changed it to require signatures from 35 percent of the state's registered voters for a proposed constitutional amendment to get on the ballot.
That would mean signatures from more than 1 million voters. Chuck Robb didn't get that many votes in the last U.S. Senate election. The change was so ridiculous, the bill's sponsor simply withdrew it.
Republicans offered an opinion from the Attorney General saying Beyer couldn't break such ties, and Democrats quoted constitutional experts saying he could. But both were happy to remove what could be this year's best chance at forcing the issue. REGIONALISM BILL ADVANCES
The state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill promoting regional cooperation among local governments Tuesday, but without the support of three Hampton Roads lawmakers concerned that their districts could get slighted.
Sen. Yvonne B. Miller, D-Norfolk, voted against the Urban Partnership proposal out of concern that citizens in her urban district would be ignored under any regional authority.
``The intent is admirable,'' said Miller. ``But some of my constituents fear that one of the unintended possibilities is that minority groups would not be adequately represented.''
Miller and two Republicans from Virginia Beach, Sens. Edward L. Schrock and Kenneth W. Stolle, were the only senators to oppose the measure. It passed the Senate 37-3, and still must be considered by the House of Delegates.
The bill is designed to decrease economic disparity among urban, suburban and rural localities by promoting revenue sharing and other cooperative agreements.
Members of the Virginia Beach City Council oppose the plan because of the sacrifices the city might have to make to support less-affluent neighbors. Schrock and Stolle echoed those concerns, and said they objected to the state imposing an arrangement best negotiated by local governments.
``It's not that I don't think the concept is a good one,'' said Schrock. ``But we just don't know the specifics of what we would have to share with this.'' PRISONER ACCESS ARGUED
The House of Delegates spent nearly an hour debating an Allen administration practice of barring reporters from meeting with inmates in state correctional facilities.
Opponents of the policy argued that more open media access would be helpful in revealing problems in prisons, the fastest-growing segment of state government.
``We don't really want to know this stuff,'' said Del. Jay W. DeBoer, D-Petersburg. ``The public doesn't really want to know it either, but they deserve to know.''
Allen supporters warned that inmates would disrupt prisons with frequent press conferences and wardens would lose control over their facilities.
At issue is a policy in which reporters who want to interview inmates in person must go through Corrections Director Ron Angelone, who rejects most requests for unspecified security concerns.
The Virginian-Pilot, for instance, has been denied six of seven interviews since last fall. Reporters in each case had to try to reach the inmate by telephone.
The House gave mixed guidance to Angelone in two sharply divided votes.
First, the House voted 51-48 for a provision that required Angelone to adopt ``reasonable'' access rules and to prevent him from prohibiting such visits.
Second, the House voted 50-47 to leave open the option for Angelone to prohibit inmates meeting with reporters.
A final vote on the bill is scheduled today. ``BREW-THRU'' LOSES VOTE
On a 84-16 vote, the House of Delegates approved legislation banning new ``brew-thru'' businesses where customers can buy alcoholic beverages without getting out of their cars.
Virginia Beach Del. Glenn R. Croshaw introduced the measure in reaction to an establishment located near the Virginia Beach oceanfront that opponents say encourages drinking and cruising.
Croshaw said that ``brew-thrus'' send mixed messages on drunken driving, though opponents say motorists can easily get beer or wine at convenience stores.
The bill goes to the Senate. by CNB