STATE

OHA-Supported Transparency Bill Nears Final Approval

After two years of OHA advocacy efforts, legislation that will make additional information on hospital quality and pricing available to consumers passed the Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee Wednesday and will likely receive approval from both the House and Senate by the end of this week. House Bill 197, sponsored by Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Cincinnati) passed out of committee following OHA’s final testimony by Wayne Wheeler, M.D., medical director of external and government affairs at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth. To view Dr. Wheeler’s testimony visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/testimony/publicdisclosure051706wheeler.pdf.

Dr. Wheeler shared OHA’s support for the legislation with the final inclusion of an amendment offered by Sen. David Goodman (R-Columbus). The amendment addressed OHA concerns that requiring hospitals to submit all National Quality Forum standards in addition to the other reported data would result in hospitals submitting hundred of measures to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). The amendment states that the ODH director, when promulgating rules for the submission of quality measures, will choose from those of the Centers for Medicaid Services, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Agency for Healthcare Research and limited measures of the National Quality Forum. And the director must consider any financial or administrative burdens that may be imposed on hospitals before requiring them to submit a quality measure. OHA was also successful in deleting previous hospital quality reporting requirements, commonly referred to as the Senate Bill 50 quality reports, that date back to 1998.  

OHA will begin working with ODH to provide reliable quality and pricing data to Ohioans through a user-friendly Web site. For more information on the issue of public disclosure, visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/public_disclosure.htm. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)

Possible Legislative Fix to Eliminate TEL Amendment

Ohio republican leaders are developing legislation to allow for the removal of the tax expenditure limit (TEL) amendment from the November ballot.  The TEL ballot initiative, backed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell, would limit state and local government spending.  The legislation looks to allow petitioners to remove the TEL amendment from the ballot and proposes only a state spending limit. OHA is concerned about the impact of TEL on state programs like Medicaid and has significant reservations about the negative consequences TEL would have on Ohio’s public hospitals. While no details have been nailed down as to the vehicle for this legislation, mention has been made of including the language in the $763 million tobacco settlement bill and exempting local government political subdivisions from the proposal. The tobacco bill is scheduled to be wrapped up by this week. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Amendment to Vehicular Homicide Bill Makes Hospital Tests Admissible 

An amendment to House Bill 461 would allow a judge to admit into evidence—during a trial charging operation of a vehicle under the influence (OVI)—the results of blood alcohol and other substance abuse tests ordered by a health care provider on its own initiative and not at the request of a law enforcement officer. Currently, the only admissible tests are those ordered by law enforcement and completed at a lab that complies with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) alcohol and drug testing regulations.

If the legislation is enacted with the amendment, prosecutors will be able to use any test results relevant to OVI cases—including those order by health care providers—to convict persons driving under the influence.  It will override an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 2005 that found inadmissible all alcohol and drug results from labs that did not comply with ODH regulations.

Sponsored by Rep. Larry Wolpert (R-Hillard), HB 461 would increase the prison term for aggregated vehicular homicide when the offender has prior convictions. The bill was voted out of the House Criminal Justice Committee last week and now heads to the Ohio House of Representatives for a vote. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Guaranty Fund Bill Moves to Ohio House

The Ohio Senate last week passed Senate Bill 279, sponsored by Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), which would limit claims against the Ohio Insurance Guaranty Association (OIGA) to a maximum of $300,000 for injury or death to any one person and would altogether bar awards to any person whose net worth exceeds $50 million. To cover possible insolvency, all licensed underwriters in Ohio must be insured by the state-based OIGA, which provides protection up to $300,000 per claim.

According to Stivers, the bill is needed to correct an Ohio Supreme Court decision (Katz vs. OIGA) that stated such claims may be "stacked" in the case of a single death or injury, creating total potential damages far exceeding $300,000. The bill includes language that separate claims for survivorship and wrongful death are subject to the same restrictions against claim stacking that were previously limited by the Supreme Court decision. The bill now awaits a House committee assignment. OHA and the Ohio State Medical Association are neutral on the proposal and will monitor any changes made to the bill. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

House and Senate Hold Hearings on Health Insurance Legislation

Committees in the House and Senate held hearings last week on legislation aimed at reducing the number of uninsured Ohioans. Senate Bill 272, sponsored by Sen. Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon), would establish and operate the Ohio Health Insurance Risk Pool. It has received widespread support, but concerns still remain on how to pay for it. The Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee heard testimony explaining that 33 other states have high risk pools that have served approximately 180,000 people who could not get insurance, mostly due to pre-existing medical conditions.  The bill would help Ohio not only by providing alternative health insurance options for its residents, but also by reducing the financial burden on hospitals, lessening cost shifting and eliminating the open enrollment program. Proposed funding options have included a tax on hospitals (opposed by OHA) and other types of health care providers.

The House Insurance Committee heard testimony on a new version of House Bill 5, sponsored by Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Springdale), which would permit small employers to offer health care plans without benefits otherwise required by statute. It would also provide for the operation of health savings accounts consistent with federal laws and limit the amount of co-payments and deductibles paid by persons insured by health benefit plans. Brent Walls, assistant director of policy and legislation for the Ohio Department of Insurance, testified before the committee, outlining changes that made to the original bill that would "assist Ohio's small businesses when offering health insurance benefits to their employees." To view Walls complete testimony, which outlines all the changes included in the substitute bill visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/testimony/hb5ODIBrentWalls.pdf

(Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

2008-2009 Budget Guidelines

The state Office of Budget and Management (OBM) has distributed preliminary guidelines for state agencies as they look toward developing the fiscal year 2008–2009 budget. The document includes information on the environment in which the next budget will be developed and a preview of key requirements that will be included in the Operating Budget Guidance for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. By June 1, the complete Operating Budget Guidance will be accessible for download and printing from OBM's Web site to assist in the preparation of agencies’ budget requests for the upcoming biennium. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

FEDERAL

Feds Block Med Mal Reform

Despite support by both Sen. Mike DeWine and Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, the U.S. Senate on Monday voted to block two bills that would have capped non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits. S. 22 would have capped total non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $750,000 and would have capped non-economic damages for individual health care providers at $250,000. S. 23 would have capped non-economic damages at similar levels in malpractice lawsuits filed against ob-gyns, a high-risk specialty. The votes marked the fourth and fifth failed attempts in the past three years to move malpractice legislation to the Senate floor. More information about the importance of medical liability reform legislation is available online at www.ohanet.org/med-mal/. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)

OHA Advocacy “In the Know”

This is a new section to the OHA Advocacy Report, in which we will provide you with information to help make you an effective advocate for your hospital.

Need short, concise information on health care related topics?  OHA’s Fact Sheets provide you with a 1-2 page overview on issues such as Medicaid, Billing and Collections, and Charity Care.  To view all of OHA’s Fact Sheets visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/resourcerepository.htm