October 12, 1978
Page 36062
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD a statement by Senator HATHAWAY.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
STATEMENT BY SENATOR HATHAWAY
I am pleased to offer with my distinguished colleague from Maine an amendment to the Nelson amendment to H.R. 5285 to exempt from mandatory hospital cost controls those States which have enacted hospital cost containment legislation prior to the enactment of the Nelson proposal.
This amendment will give those states which have already enacted laws, but have not had their programs in effect for at least one year, a chance to demonstrate that their programs are effective in keeping costs down. I fully support the Nelson proposal because I believe we must act now to ensure that hospital costs are contained. However, I have been concerned that, as introduced, the Nelson measure failed to address the special situation posed by states which had been responsible enough to enact a state cost control law, but had not yet had a year of operation to show that costs were in fact kept down, as required by the Nelson amendment.
The amendment which we are offering recognizes the current state efforts to contain hospital costs by providing an exemption from mandatory controls for those states which have enacted cost control programs. The exemption would be for a period of one year from the date of implementation of those programs. If, at the end of that time, the Governor certifies and the Secretary of HEW determines that the state program is capable of keeping the increase in hospital revenues in line with the mandatory goals, the state would be eligible for continued exemption from mandatory cost controls.