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Legislation (S.B. 89) that would reauthorize the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council was approved by the House on June 1, bringing the measure one step closer to enactment.

Established in 1986, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) is an independent agency funded by the state whose mission is to help address rapidly rising health-care costs in Pennsylvania.

PHC4 helps keep health-care costs down by:

- Collecting, analyzing and providing public data on costs and quality of health care in Pennsylvania

- Studying access to health care

- Making recommendations about health-care insurance mandates

- Providing comparative information about health-care providers

- Providing information to health-care providers, so they can make better decisions on ways to improve cost and quality

The law that created PHC4 expired in June 2008, but Gov. Ed Rendell temporarily reauthorized the agency via executive orders through June 2009.

Senate Bill 89 would extend the agency's charter through 2014, and would require the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to issue a report to the legislature in 2013 on the agency's management and performance.

"The agency has proven to be a valuable tool in bringing a level of transparency to our health-care system to the benefit of consumers," PA Chamber President Floyd Warner said. "Reauthorization is something that hopefully can be realized soon so that the agency can concentrate fully on its vital mission without the distraction of an uncertain existence."

The bill is expected to be sent to the governor for his signature following Senate approval of technical amendments added in the House.