Legislation (S.B. 89) that would reauthorize the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council was signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell on Wednesday, June 10 as Act 3 of 2009.

Reauthorization of the council was a priority for PA Chamber members.

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 original law that created PHC4 expired in June 2008, but the governor had temporarily reauthorized the agency via executive orders through June 2009.

Act 3 extends the agency's charter through 2014, and requires the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to issue a report to the legislature in 2013 on the agency's management and performance.

Also signed into law was another PA Chamber-supported bill (H.B.1089) that allows for the continuation of employer-based group health insurance benefits for employees and eligible dependents of businesses with two to 19 employees.

Act 2 of 2009, the "mini-COBRA" act, enables individuals to take advantage of the COBRA subsidies made available under the Health Insurance Assistance for the Unemployed Act of 2009 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The new law is a positive step towards expanding health-care insurance, as it provides a mechanism for those who separate from employment with a small employer to access coverage and utilize the current COBRA subsidies.