Legislative floor deadline last week; 810 bills move to opposite house

Posted on: 3/29/17

Thursday, March 23, was the deadline for bills and resolutions to advance to the opposite house for consideration. There were 2,200 bills and resolutions introduced in February for the 2017 session of the Oklahoma Legislature. After Thursday’s floor deadline, 810 measures will cross over. Legislative measures that were approved by the deadline will go to the opposite house  for consideration. The deadline for bills to be heard in committees in the opposite house is Thursday, April 13. If passed, bills go to the floor for consideration and the deadline for action is April. 27.

The number of bills and joint resolutions will begin to increase again once measures used to implement the FY2017 budget plan are filed. Budget bills are exempt from all deadlines and will be filed once an agreement is reached on the spending plan. Those bills with be assigned to the Joint Committees on Appropriations and Budget (JCABs).

Cigarette tax
The cigarette tax increase proposal will go through the Joint Appropriations and Budget Committee (JCAB) process under a new bill number. The House Appropriations and Budget Committee approved HB 1841, a $1.50 per pack cigarette tax increase, Feb. 13 on a 17 to 10 vote.  

Status of Legislation

Status of bills supported by OHA: HB 1845, REAL ID ACT, bringing Oklahoma into compliance with the federal REAL ID Act was signed by the governor; SB 83, Childhood Vaccinations, Yen, modifies the conditions upon which a parent may receive the form for a non-medical exemption to childhood vaccines, failed on Senate floor; and SB 236, State Health Lab, David, authorizes the issuance of a $58.5 million bond for construction of a new State Health Laboratory for the Health Department, will be considered by the Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget.

Bills opposed by OHA die in committee: Bills to diminish authority of state health boards include: SB 686, David/Echols, removing the authority of the Health Care Authority Board to appoint the agency’s director and giving the authority to the governor, failed in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee; and, SB 711, David/Echols, removing the authority of the Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to appoint the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services was withdrawn from the committee’s consideration by Sen. David.

Health insurance bills that died in committee include: SB 329, Marlatt/Smalley, which mandates the offering of HMO plans with the same actuarial value as the states’ self-funded HealthChoice High Option PPO plan and prohibits risk adjusting premium payments to commercial HMOs; and the House version HB 1630, Rogers, was laid over in the House Committee after OHA members and others contacted House members in opposition to the bill. The bills were requested by Global Health.

Bills opposed by OHA withdrawn from consideration:  HB 1712, Moore, repeals the 38 state mandated health benefits such as breast cancer screening and diabetes treatment. HB 2216, S. Roberts, requires a hospital or inpatient facility that admits an enrollee or seeks prior authorization for a nonemergency service to provide notice to the enrollee that certain health care providers practicing at that facility may not have the enrollees’ insurance; SB 158, Shaw, prohibits a health care practitioner from refusing to treat a patient based on the lawful ownership of a gun; and, SB 518, Marlett/Smalley, changes the relationship from the current private contact rate negotiation to a state-mandated provision for out-of-network providers for emergency services.

Bills opposed by OHA fail on floor:  HB 1710, Ritze/Yen, prohibits hospitals and health plans from discriminating against physicians who have been awarded board certification by specialty boards recognized by either the American Osteopathic Association or the American Board of Medical Specialties, irrespective of recertification status or participation in Maintenance of Certification, failed on the House floor.

Bills opposed by OHA pass to opposite house: SB 478, Brown, allows the insurance commissioner to negotiate one or more compacts with other states to allow insurers to sell across state lines; SB 782, Scott, requires licensure of radiology technologists; SB 701, Sykes/Echols, provides a health care provider’s failure to comply with or breach of any federal statute, regulation or program will not be admissible, used to determine the standard of care or the legal basis for a presumption of negligence in medical liability actions; and SB 762, Sykes/Ritze, relating to medical liability and to limitation of tail coverage of physicians. There is disagreement among providers and carriers about the intent of this bill.

Bills in negotiation by OHA and sponsors pass to opposite House:  HB 2216, S. Roberts, requires a hospital or inpatient facility that admits an enrollee or seeks prior authorization for a nonemergency service to provide notice to the enrollee that certain health care providers practicing at that facility may not have the enrollees insurance. Hospitals were amended out from the bill on the House floor and OHA still has concerns; SB 208, Floyd/ Munson, creates the Sexual Assault Victims’ Right to Information Act; SB 726, Griffin, Telemedicine, allows a physician-patient relationship to be established by telephone, thereby changing current telemedicine protocols; and, SB 757, Jech/Wright, requires, beginning Sept. 30, 2018, and at least annually thereafter, hospitals to provide to the State Department of Health, utilizing electronic health records software, information on the 100 most common medical procedures and the 50 most common imaging procedures.
 
State Budget Update:  The state Rainy Day Fund will be depleted if lawmakers approve a $34 million supplemental appropriation to the Department of Human Services. The Rainy Day Fund is the Constitutional Reserve Fund created in 1985 by a vote of the people. Rainy Day Funds can be spent in specified ways including (1) up to three-eighths  for a shortfall in current year General Revenue tax collections, and (2) up to an additional three-eighths if projected General Revenue collections for the upcoming year are below GR tax collections for the current fiscal year. Due to budget shortfalls in recent years, Oklahoma lawmakers have increasingly looked at one-time funding sources, like the Rainy Day Fund, to help fill the gap.

State Medicaid agency reviews possible budget cuts: The Oklahoma Health Care Authority Board (OHCA) reviewed various budget scenarios for the coming fiscal year at the March 23 board meeting.

At the request of House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Health Chair Chad Caldwell, the agency compiled scenarios ranging from 5 percent to 15 percent reductions in its state appropriations. The agency filed an FY2018 budget request, which included a $118 million increase as means of funding growth and utilization, replacing one-time carryover and funding, and covering decreases in federal funds. Board members were told that a flat appropriation for FY2018 would still result in a reduction to agency due to “shrinking federal funds and growth and utilization increases.”

To meet a flat budget, the agency would need to make further across-the-board provider rate cuts of 8 percent. Carrie Evans, OHCA CFO, added that 1 percent in provider cuts represents $8.6 million in state savings. The reductions could increase by 14 percent for a flat budget. To read more details, click here.  

For a listing of active bills and resolutions on the OHA Priority Tracking list, click here.  (Lynne White)