By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
As lawmakers head back to Frankfort to pass a budget -- and other bills, despite Gov. Andy Beshear's repeated request that they pass only a budget and anything related to the coronavirus -- several big bills related to other aspects of health are pending, including some controversial measures.
Beshear, a Democrat, denied the request of the Republican legislative majority to call a special session after the threat abates, if they adjourned early. He said it might not be safe to call them back in time to pass a budget, which must be done by June 30. The lawmakers plan to pass the budget and other bills Wednesday, April 1, and return April 14 to reconsider vetoed bills.
One big health-related bill that is expected to pass is House Bill 32, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, to tax electronic cigarettes. This bill has been promoted as a way to reduce teen use of the products by increasing their price and to bring state government more money -- an increased concern in light of the pandemic, which is expected to cause a recession and a drop in state revenue.
HB 32 was trimmed down in a Senate committee to place a 15 percent wholesale tax on e-cig products and a $1.50 per-pod tax on Juul-type products, which is expected to bring in $25 million a year. The original bill was estimated to bring in $50 million, and that could be trimmed down even further, as two Senate floor amendments have been filed to decrease the tax to 10%.
The original version would have put a 25% tax on e-cig products, while raising the tax for "other tobacco products," such as cigars, to 25% from the current 15%, and add e-cigs to the list. It would have also doubled the per-unit tax on chewable and non-smokable products, but did not touch the tax on traditional cigarettes.
Another health-related bill to watch is one that has been touted in the House as part of a three-phase approach to create a sustainable solution to local health departments' pension-driven financial woes.
House Bill 171, sponsored by Rep. Jim DuPlessis, R-Elizabethtown, would move health departments, regional universities and quasi-governmental agencies away from a "percentage of pay" pension formula to a model that requires them to pay only what they owe the system over a certain period, called "level-dollar funding." This bill as written has had two readings in the Senate and resides in the Senate State & Local Government Committee.
That said, the House has filed a committee substitute to SB 249, sponsored by Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, to reflect most of the language in HB 171, with a change to include a new 30-year-amortization period for the state pension debt, rather than the 27 years in HB 171. It also adds a layered 20 year closed amortization period for any future annual increases or decreases in actuarially accrued liabilities after the 2019 valuation. SB 249 has received two readings in the House, but is not yet listed on the orders of the day. DuPlessis has said negotiations for this bill will likely be done through SB 249.
Another big health-related bill to watch is HB 387, sponsored by Rep. Danny Bentley, R-Russell, which would create a revolving loan fund for financially distressed rural hospitals.
This bill would allow the state Cabinet for Economic Development to provide loans to struggling hospitals for three purposes: to maintain or upgrade their facilities; to maintain or increase staff; or to provide health-care services not currently available. This bill has had two readings and currently resides in the Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee.
Another important health-related bill would cap the monthly cost of insulin for many Kentuckians at $100. HB 12, sponsored by Bentley,would require state-regulated health-insurance plans to cap a patient's cost for a 30-day supply of each insulin prescription at $100 "regardless of the amount or type of insulin needed to meet the covered person's insulin needs." It does not include Medicaid, Medicare or self-insured government plans.
The Senate added a committee substitute to HB 12 which would also establish an insulin assistance program. This language comes from SB 23, sponsored by Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville. HB 12 has had two readings and now resides in the Senate Rules Committee.
It is likely that at least one of the anti-abortion bills will move as it has been posted for some time in the House orders of the day for final passage. Senate Bill 9, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, would require health-care providers to give "medically appropriate and reasonable life-saving and life-sustaining medical care and treatment" to any infant born alive, including after a failed abortion, and would make not doing so a felony. The bill has been amended to remove any reference to research, so it would not inhibit ongoing research.
Critics of this bill say there are already laws in Kentucky to prevent this from happening and that the bill does not account for palliative care when infants will not live or will not have quality of life.
Another abortion bill that could pass is House Bill 451, sponsored by Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, which would expand the power of the attorney general to regulate abortion facilities, including bringing injunction relief as well as civil or criminal penalties for violations. The Senate Judiciary Committee added authority for attorney general to block abortions under gubernatorial emergency orders.
Sen. Ralph Alvarado,R-Winchester, has filed a floor amendment to ban abortion from being deemed an urgent procedure allowed during the state of emergency declared in response to covid-19 and Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Loisville, has filed one to allow abortions in the case of a nonviable fetus, rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life. HB 451 has had one reading in the Senate.
Another one to watch is House Bill 67, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Fort Thomas, which would ban abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned. It would have the constitution say, "To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion." This bill is not as far along in the process as HB 451, but could move with a committement from the Senate to do so. It now resides in the Senate State & Local Government Committee.
Here are some other health-related bills that could pass:
HB 29, sponsored by Rep. Steve Riley, R- Glasgow, would extend temporary license for long-term care administrators to nine months, not six. It awaits concurrence in the House with a Senate committee substitute that would prohibit certification or renewal of an assisted-living community if it is owned, manged or operated by a person who has been convicted of certain crimes, it also change the appeals and renewal processes.
HB 46 , sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, would allow full-time employees of the Commonwealth of Kentucky a paid leave of absence of 240 hours for donating a human organ and 40 hours for donating bone marrow. This bill is on the Senate consent calendar.
HB 8, sponsored by Rep. Rob Rothenburger, R-Shelbyville, would boost Medicaid reimbursements for ambulance services by setting up a trust fund to allow them to draw a federal match. This bill is on the Senate consent calendar.
HB 386, sponsored by Rep. Scott Lewis, R-Hartford, would increase from one to four years the time that local governments may contract for ambulance services. This bill is in the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
SB 20, sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, would ban ownership or operation of assisted-living facility by, or its employment of, any person convicted of certain felonies or listed on abuse list. Bill has been reasigned to House Licensing, Occupations & Administrative Regulations Committee and has been posed for a hearing.
SB 30, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, would limit the number of managed care organizations to three, from the current five. This bill has been returned to the House Health and Family Services with one reading.
SB 237 , sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, would allow for the collection of tissue samples from post-mortem exams of children who have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to be used for research purposes, with a parents permission. This bill is in the House Health and Family Services Committee, with one reading/
Kentucky Health News
As lawmakers head back to Frankfort to pass a budget -- and other bills, despite Gov. Andy Beshear's repeated request that they pass only a budget and anything related to the coronavirus -- several big bills related to other aspects of health are pending, including some controversial measures.
Beshear, a Democrat, denied the request of the Republican legislative majority to call a special session after the threat abates, if they adjourned early. He said it might not be safe to call them back in time to pass a budget, which must be done by June 30. The lawmakers plan to pass the budget and other bills Wednesday, April 1, and return April 14 to reconsider vetoed bills.
One big health-related bill that is expected to pass is House Bill 32, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, to tax electronic cigarettes. This bill has been promoted as a way to reduce teen use of the products by increasing their price and to bring state government more money -- an increased concern in light of the pandemic, which is expected to cause a recession and a drop in state revenue.
HB 32 was trimmed down in a Senate committee to place a 15 percent wholesale tax on e-cig products and a $1.50 per-pod tax on Juul-type products, which is expected to bring in $25 million a year. The original bill was estimated to bring in $50 million, and that could be trimmed down even further, as two Senate floor amendments have been filed to decrease the tax to 10%.
The original version would have put a 25% tax on e-cig products, while raising the tax for "other tobacco products," such as cigars, to 25% from the current 15%, and add e-cigs to the list. It would have also doubled the per-unit tax on chewable and non-smokable products, but did not touch the tax on traditional cigarettes.
Another health-related bill to watch is one that has been touted in the House as part of a three-phase approach to create a sustainable solution to local health departments' pension-driven financial woes.
House Bill 171, sponsored by Rep. Jim DuPlessis, R-Elizabethtown, would move health departments, regional universities and quasi-governmental agencies away from a "percentage of pay" pension formula to a model that requires them to pay only what they owe the system over a certain period, called "level-dollar funding." This bill as written has had two readings in the Senate and resides in the Senate State & Local Government Committee.
That said, the House has filed a committee substitute to SB 249, sponsored by Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, to reflect most of the language in HB 171, with a change to include a new 30-year-amortization period for the state pension debt, rather than the 27 years in HB 171. It also adds a layered 20 year closed amortization period for any future annual increases or decreases in actuarially accrued liabilities after the 2019 valuation. SB 249 has received two readings in the House, but is not yet listed on the orders of the day. DuPlessis has said negotiations for this bill will likely be done through SB 249.
Another big health-related bill to watch is HB 387, sponsored by Rep. Danny Bentley, R-Russell, which would create a revolving loan fund for financially distressed rural hospitals.
This bill would allow the state Cabinet for Economic Development to provide loans to struggling hospitals for three purposes: to maintain or upgrade their facilities; to maintain or increase staff; or to provide health-care services not currently available. This bill has had two readings and currently resides in the Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee.
Another important health-related bill would cap the monthly cost of insulin for many Kentuckians at $100. HB 12, sponsored by Bentley,would require state-regulated health-insurance plans to cap a patient's cost for a 30-day supply of each insulin prescription at $100 "regardless of the amount or type of insulin needed to meet the covered person's insulin needs." It does not include Medicaid, Medicare or self-insured government plans.
The Senate added a committee substitute to HB 12 which would also establish an insulin assistance program. This language comes from SB 23, sponsored by Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville. HB 12 has had two readings and now resides in the Senate Rules Committee.
It is likely that at least one of the anti-abortion bills will move as it has been posted for some time in the House orders of the day for final passage. Senate Bill 9, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, would require health-care providers to give "medically appropriate and reasonable life-saving and life-sustaining medical care and treatment" to any infant born alive, including after a failed abortion, and would make not doing so a felony. The bill has been amended to remove any reference to research, so it would not inhibit ongoing research.
Critics of this bill say there are already laws in Kentucky to prevent this from happening and that the bill does not account for palliative care when infants will not live or will not have quality of life.
Another abortion bill that could pass is House Bill 451, sponsored by Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, which would expand the power of the attorney general to regulate abortion facilities, including bringing injunction relief as well as civil or criminal penalties for violations. The Senate Judiciary Committee added authority for attorney general to block abortions under gubernatorial emergency orders.
Sen. Ralph Alvarado,R-Winchester, has filed a floor amendment to ban abortion from being deemed an urgent procedure allowed during the state of emergency declared in response to covid-19 and Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Loisville, has filed one to allow abortions in the case of a nonviable fetus, rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life. HB 451 has had one reading in the Senate.
Another one to watch is House Bill 67, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Fort Thomas, which would ban abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned. It would have the constitution say, "To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion." This bill is not as far along in the process as HB 451, but could move with a committement from the Senate to do so. It now resides in the Senate State & Local Government Committee.
Here are some other health-related bills that could pass:
HB 29, sponsored by Rep. Steve Riley, R- Glasgow, would extend temporary license for long-term care administrators to nine months, not six. It awaits concurrence in the House with a Senate committee substitute that would prohibit certification or renewal of an assisted-living community if it is owned, manged or operated by a person who has been convicted of certain crimes, it also change the appeals and renewal processes.
HB 46 , sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, would allow full-time employees of the Commonwealth of Kentucky a paid leave of absence of 240 hours for donating a human organ and 40 hours for donating bone marrow. This bill is on the Senate consent calendar.
HB 8, sponsored by Rep. Rob Rothenburger, R-Shelbyville, would boost Medicaid reimbursements for ambulance services by setting up a trust fund to allow them to draw a federal match. This bill is on the Senate consent calendar.
HB 386, sponsored by Rep. Scott Lewis, R-Hartford, would increase from one to four years the time that local governments may contract for ambulance services. This bill is in the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
SB 20, sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, would ban ownership or operation of assisted-living facility by, or its employment of, any person convicted of certain felonies or listed on abuse list. Bill has been reasigned to House Licensing, Occupations & Administrative Regulations Committee and has been posed for a hearing.
SB 30, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, would limit the number of managed care organizations to three, from the current five. This bill has been returned to the House Health and Family Services with one reading.
SB 237 , sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, would allow for the collection of tissue samples from post-mortem exams of children who have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to be used for research purposes, with a parents permission. This bill is in the House Health and Family Services Committee, with one reading/
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