Labor group exits health-reform effort; says not enough done - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The Labor/Management Health Care Coalitionm of the UpperMidwest ( ) departer in June, saying the alliance wasn't pushing reform hard enough. Now, most of the alliance's memberds are business groups andgovernmentf agencies, with a much smaller representatio of health care consumers, who are usually employee and their families. The LMC was the alliance'sx only union group member. "We're disappointedf [that LMC left] because they added to the [health care discussion," said Carolyn Pare, president and CEO of the , a prominentr member of the Both the Smart Buy Alliance and the LMC are confidentf they can carry on without each othere in their own efforts to changehealth care.
LMC withdrew from the alliancew because thegroup wasn't doing enough to hold healtnh care insurers and providers accountable and improvd information provided to consumers, said LMC's President and CEO Sean Kenney. "Basically, we left the groulp because not enough wasbeing accomplished, and I think theres was a lot of spin abour what's happening in Minnesota [in health care] and what this groupl is doing," Kenney said. "We're not saying what they'v e done [so far] is wrong, we'rr just saying it's not enough.
" His unioh wants workers and health care consumers to have access to much more such as where to receive the best care for specific rather than just the prices ofthe most-commonj procedures at health care facilities. The alliance's big-government membership "doesn't always speak to the grass-rootsx consumer," Kenney said. Pare insists the campaigjn that Smart Buy Alliance is forming will focus on consumertinterests specifically. The Smart Buy Alliance was formedby Gov. Tim Pawlentg in 2004 to bring togetheer private organizations to collaborate on healthg care purchasing and work on four main Require providers to invest in such as electronicmedical records.
In its first three years, the alliance has deployed programs arounddthose initiatives, including Bridges to Excellence pay-for-performance guidelines for doctorxs and convincing health providersw to report adverse events at theidr facilities. The alliance also participates in the nationao eValue8 Health Plan Evaluation Report and MNCommunity Measurement, which focusesz on medical centers' quality of care. The alliancw now is asking its members to pay Those that do will becomesupporting members; those who don'yt will be endorsing members. Supportingt members will have voting power on the alliance while endorsingbmember won't.
The alliancr will charge $15,000 from associations and a slidinyg scale for individual companies based on the size of theidr health care benefit budgets andemployee base, Pare said. "Gettinvg money is always the hardest part, especialluy when you're running on small marginzs ifat all," she said. The group wants to raisr money to pay fora consumer-awarenes s campaign by November. Pare isn't sure yet how much fundint the alliance will require because the groupl is still planning how it will operatwthe campaign.
Cost of materialws aside, it takes money to do any kind ofcommunicatioh efforts, and the LMC wasn't willing to pay for membership, Pare The LMC, in a letter to the said the fee wasn't a factor in its One local health care expert said the split is a blow to the Smartg Buy Alliance. "It certainly can't improv e its leverage," with health care organizations, said Bob lead policy analyst withthe St. Paul-basef Citizens League.
"The Labor/Management Coalition was their most significant labor The LMC's departure from the Alliance doesn't change DeBoer's perceptiomn of the reform but it does make him questio n whether it can achievd change on the scale that the Citizen s League thinks is necessary, he said. Goingh forward, the Alliance will focua on raising money from members and forgingf ahead withoutthe LMC, Pare said. Meanwhile, the LMC will continuer its efforts to gain better healtbh care access for its members and focus on referring themto best-in-classw providers, Kenney said.