By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
Amid the covid-19 pandemic. the Republican-led General Assembly returned to Frankfort for two days to override all of Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's vetoes and pass a whirlwind of bills, many health-related. The bills await action by Beshear, whose decision will be final because April 15 was the last day the legislature could meet..
Here are most of the health-related bills that passed in the final two days of the legislative session:
House Bill 8, sponsored by Rep. Rob Rothenburger, R-Shelbyville, would boost reimbursement from Medicaid for ambulance services by setting up a trust fund to let them draw a federal match.
HB 46, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, would allow full-time state employees a paid leave of absence of 240 hours for donating a human organ and 40 hours for donating bone marrow.
Senate Bill 237, sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, would allow 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 parent's permission.
HB 29, sponsored by Rep. Steve Riley, R-Glasgow, would make temporary licenses for long-term-care administrators run nine months, not six.
HB 387, sponsored by Rep. Danny Bentley, R-Russell, will create a revolving loan fund for financially distressed rural hospitals. It would allow the 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. The loan fund is not currently funded.
HB 387 passed with an amendment to give Gov. Andy Beshear the authority he needs to buy protective gear for health-care workers fighting the covid-19 pandemic.
SB 191, sponsored by Sen. Julie Raque-Adams, R-Louisville, addresses the certification and educational requirements for alcohol and drug counselors.
SB 9, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, will 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 also passed with language form from HB 451, to expand the power of the attorney general to shut down abortion providers as well as language to allow the attorney general to ban abortion from being deemed an urgent procedure under Beshear's emergency order.
House Resolution 135, sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, was also adopted. It encourages the Legislative Research Commission to establish the Kentucky Emergency Preparedness Task Force, with findings to be submitted by Dec. 1, 2020. Specifically, she said it should look at the state's past and current response to disasters, including covid-19, and to plan for future disaster response.
Click here for a list of some other health-related bills that have already been signed by the governor.
Health Bills that didn't pass, but could have
One important health bill that did not passed was aimed at improving the workforce that cares for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and dimentia.
SB 136, sponsored by Sen. Robby Mills, would have required home health aides who provide care for patients with Alzheimer's Disease or other forms of dementia to receive four hours of cabinet approved dementia care training within the first 60 days of employment, and then two hours per year after that. It was said at the committee hearing that of the 75 hours it takes to become a certified nurses aide, only two of them focus on cognitive impairment.
The bill was taken over with a coronavirus relief amendment in the last hours of the legislative session that passed out of the House 86-3, but was not taken up in the Senate. A Senate spokesman told the Lexington Herald-Leader that there were some issues with the bill that the Senate did not have time to correct.
The health-related measures in the amendment included allowing chiropractors to go back to work and allowing certified community health workers to bill Medicaid for their services during the covid-19 state of emergency. It also included language that asked occupational licensing boards and trade associations to submit a plan to the governor showing how they could safely reopen while still following public health guidelines.
Another one that didn't pass was Senate Bill 20, which was completely gutted in the House and amended to allow massage therapy and optician boards to set their licencing fees in administrative regulations and to designate a single credentialing verification agency for all of the state's Medicaid managed care organizations.
Health care providers continue to complain about the onerous task of having to be separately credentialed with all five MCOs, and have long called for a change to this practice.
Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor, said the credentialing piece of the bill would set a firm deadline, July 1, 2020, for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to get this program in place, and if they didn't then that responsibility would shift to the Attorney General's office. The General Assembly passed legislation in 2018 to create such a system, but it hasn't been implemented yet, she said.
Another bill related to MCOs that did not pass was SB 30, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield. It would have limited the number of MCOs to three, from the current five. Meredith and others say there is no need for providers to have to deal with the administrative burdens of dealing with so many MCOs.
A bill to cap the monthly cost of insulin for many Kentuckians at $100 also did not pass HB 12, sponsored by Bentley, would require state-regulated 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 committee substitute for HB 12 would also have established an insulin assistance program. This language came from SB 23, sponsored by Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville.
Kentucky Health News
Amid the covid-19 pandemic. the Republican-led General Assembly returned to Frankfort for two days to override all of Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's vetoes and pass a whirlwind of bills, many health-related. The bills await action by Beshear, whose decision will be final because April 15 was the last day the legislature could meet..
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| House members stand for the pledge of allegiance at the start of the April 14 session; most watched the proceedings from their offices and communicated votes to party leaders on the floor, to maintain social distancing. (LRC photo) |
House Bill 8, sponsored by Rep. Rob Rothenburger, R-Shelbyville, would boost reimbursement from Medicaid for ambulance services by setting up a trust fund to let them draw a federal match.
HB 46, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, would allow full-time state employees a paid leave of absence of 240 hours for donating a human organ and 40 hours for donating bone marrow.
Senate Bill 237, sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, would allow 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 parent's permission.
HB 29, sponsored by Rep. Steve Riley, R-Glasgow, would make temporary licenses for long-term-care administrators run nine months, not six.
HB 387, sponsored by Rep. Danny Bentley, R-Russell, will create a revolving loan fund for financially distressed rural hospitals. It would allow the 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. The loan fund is not currently funded.
HB 387 passed with an amendment to give Gov. Andy Beshear the authority he needs to buy protective gear for health-care workers fighting the covid-19 pandemic.
SB 191, sponsored by Sen. Julie Raque-Adams, R-Louisville, addresses the certification and educational requirements for alcohol and drug counselors.
SB 9, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, will 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 also passed with language form from HB 451, to expand the power of the attorney general to shut down abortion providers as well as language to allow the attorney general to ban abortion from being deemed an urgent procedure under Beshear's emergency order.
House Resolution 135, sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, was also adopted. It encourages the Legislative Research Commission to establish the Kentucky Emergency Preparedness Task Force, with findings to be submitted by Dec. 1, 2020. Specifically, she said it should look at the state's past and current response to disasters, including covid-19, and to plan for future disaster response.
Click here for a list of some other health-related bills that have already been signed by the governor.
Health Bills that didn't pass, but could have
One important health bill that did not passed was aimed at improving the workforce that cares for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and dimentia.
SB 136, sponsored by Sen. Robby Mills, would have required home health aides who provide care for patients with Alzheimer's Disease or other forms of dementia to receive four hours of cabinet approved dementia care training within the first 60 days of employment, and then two hours per year after that. It was said at the committee hearing that of the 75 hours it takes to become a certified nurses aide, only two of them focus on cognitive impairment.
The bill was taken over with a coronavirus relief amendment in the last hours of the legislative session that passed out of the House 86-3, but was not taken up in the Senate. A Senate spokesman told the Lexington Herald-Leader that there were some issues with the bill that the Senate did not have time to correct.
The health-related measures in the amendment included allowing chiropractors to go back to work and allowing certified community health workers to bill Medicaid for their services during the covid-19 state of emergency. It also included language that asked occupational licensing boards and trade associations to submit a plan to the governor showing how they could safely reopen while still following public health guidelines.
Another one that didn't pass was Senate Bill 20, which was completely gutted in the House and amended to allow massage therapy and optician boards to set their licencing fees in administrative regulations and to designate a single credentialing verification agency for all of the state's Medicaid managed care organizations.
Health care providers continue to complain about the onerous task of having to be separately credentialed with all five MCOs, and have long called for a change to this practice.
Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor, said the credentialing piece of the bill would set a firm deadline, July 1, 2020, for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to get this program in place, and if they didn't then that responsibility would shift to the Attorney General's office. The General Assembly passed legislation in 2018 to create such a system, but it hasn't been implemented yet, she said.
Another bill related to MCOs that did not pass was SB 30, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield. It would have limited the number of MCOs to three, from the current five. Meredith and others say there is no need for providers to have to deal with the administrative burdens of dealing with so many MCOs.
A bill to cap the monthly cost of insulin for many Kentuckians at $100 also did not pass HB 12, sponsored by Bentley, would require state-regulated 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 committee substitute for HB 12 would also have established an insulin assistance program. This language came from SB 23, sponsored by Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville.
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