by Devon Green, Sr. Vice President of Policy & Strategy, VAHHS
A huge thank you to Chairs Black and Lyons and Rep. Berbeco and Sen. Gulick, along with all the members of the health care committees, for quickly shepherding through the House and Senate H.84, a bill that allows for recording of telehealth visits with consent. Not only will this bill support more engaged patient visits; it will also provide a better quality of life for our providers. Fun fact: it’s also one of the rare bills that remained unchanged from start to finish! Next stop is the governor’s desk for a signature.
See below for everything else that happened last week:
Reduction or Elimination of Services: VAHHS testified in front of the House Health Care Committee on S.189, which addresses the intentional reduction or elimination of hospital services. VAHHS supported the Senate-passed version of the bill, which requires hospitals to provide notice to policymakers and hold a public meeting prior to reducing or eliminating services.
DVHA Miscellaneous Bill: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee heard from Bi-State Primary Care Association on an amendment to H.611 that would include in house pharmacies in last year’s Act 55 340B protections.
Primary Care: The House Health Care Committee focused its efforts on primary care last week. They walked through H.433, which is the incremental implementation of universal primary care and S.197, the Senate-passed bill which makes the Blueprint for Health more sustainable.
APRN Bill: The House Health Care Committee introduced a new draft of S.163, a bill that includes APRNs in the hospital Patients’ Bill of Rights and provides them with admitting and discharging privileges. The Board of Medical Practice weighed in to say they did not support the bill, but that if it moved forward, they would like Physician Assistants (PAs) included as well. The new draft includes PAs along with APRNS.
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