State legislative update

Posted on: 4/2/21

The next legislative deadline is fast approaching on Thursday, April 8. While this week has not seen much public movement on legislation affecting our industry, we have been working with lawmakers in both the House and Senate on several bills that will likely be heard by the deadline. 

SB 674 by Sen. Greg McCortney and Rep. Marcus McEntire regarding telehealth payment parity has been in the works for some time and it appears we’re headed toward an agreement.

HB 2335 by Rep. Jay Steagall and Sen. Shane Jett seeks to limit the government’s ability to require vaccinations. As originally introduced, the language in the bill gave us grave concern that our public trust and municipally owned hospitals would be unable to require vaccinations in their facilities. Working with the Oklahoma Municipal League, who also had similar concerns for employees working in areas such as sanitation, we’ve been able to make substantive changes to the bill and are now neutral on this piece of legislation. While OHA is neutral, there are other entities and associations that still oppose the bill and will continue to work against it.

HB 2687 by Rep. Toni Hasenbeck and Sen. Michael Bergstrom regarding hospital visitation policies has come a long way since our first conversation with the representative from Elgin. Sprung out of constituent experiences during the height of the pandemic, the need to be sensitive and willing to work with these lawmakers on this topic is essential and not at all unusual. This type of legislation has popped up across the country, with lawmakers and health care providers working to find a workable solution that weighs the concerns of patients and public health policy. And as with every issue at the state Capitol this year, we must weigh political realities and support on our other key fight this session, managed care. So, we’ve come to a workable solution with the bill authors. 

Other bills of note that may be heard by the deadline include HB 1633 by Rep. David Hardin and Bergstrom. This bill would pass the burden of paying for county inmate health care for self-harm from the county, who is responsible today, to the inmate. 

SB 689 by Sen. Adam Pugh and Rep. Nicole Miller changes the makeup of the Medical Advisory Committee within the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. The bill has received stiff opposition from the intellectual and developmental disability community, among others. While the OHCA is attempting to address concerns from the provider and consumer advocate community, they remain opposed to changes to the MAC. There is no doubt that this legislation threatens hospitals’ seat at the table on this committee. 

While this update has been devoid of managed care, conversations are going strong among key legislative leaders. Please make sure you’re signed up for our OHA action alerts because we will need everyone’s active support to defeat managed care. (Scott Tohlen)