Passive and Aggressive
If body language and rhetorical exchanges at recent sessions of the Legislature's Privately Owned Health Care Organization Task Force are any indication, watch for less than cordial relations between the House and the Senate when the 2006 legislative session convenes in January.
The task force is working on recommendations for future state policies regarding health care providers and insurance coverage, specifically whether Intermountain Health Care should be taxed and whether the state should force more competition by weakening IHC's hold on its insurance and provider relationships.
The House members on the committee, led by Speaker Greg Curtis, seem friendly to IHC's point of view on the issues. The Senate members are friendlier to IHC's competitors.
On Thursday, tension between those two sides oozed out a bit when Curtis, R-Sandy, mentioned that he couldn't meet on a certain day because he had a conflict.
"What's so special about your conflict?" sneered Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George.
Curtis gave Hickman a cool look, then smiled and said he was going to meetings at Yucca Mountain. Later, when members were discussing other dates, Hickman said he couldn't be there on severaldays.
"What's so special about your conflict?" chided the speaker, which seemed to rattle the southern Utah senator just a bit before he was able to smile and talk about his business commitments.
Just a petty little exchange perhaps, but watch for deeper fissures to form as the legislative session nears.
The task force is working on recommendations for future state policies regarding health care providers and insurance coverage, specifically whether Intermountain Health Care should be taxed and whether the state should force more competition by weakening IHC's hold on its insurance and provider relationships.
The House members on the committee, led by Speaker Greg Curtis, seem friendly to IHC's point of view on the issues. The Senate members are friendlier to IHC's competitors.
On Thursday, tension between those two sides oozed out a bit when Curtis, R-Sandy, mentioned that he couldn't meet on a certain day because he had a conflict.
"What's so special about your conflict?" sneered Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George.
Curtis gave Hickman a cool look, then smiled and said he was going to meetings at Yucca Mountain. Later, when members were discussing other dates, Hickman said he couldn't be there on severaldays.
"What's so special about your conflict?" chided the speaker, which seemed to rattle the southern Utah senator just a bit before he was able to smile and talk about his business commitments.
Just a petty little exchange perhaps, but watch for deeper fissures to form as the legislative session nears.
9:50 PM
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