OHA Advocacy Network

Advocacy Report • Friday, December 8, 2006

Lame Duck Update

The lame duck session officially runs until the end of the calendar year, but Speaker of the House Jon Husted this week announced his intention to wrap up business by Dec. 19. Over the next several weeks, OHA will follow several pieces of legislation with the potential to impact hospitals.

Action for next week...

HB 690 (Seitz) - Minimum Wage Implementation

Tuesday - House Session (House Chambers, 11 a.m.) Vote

HB 699 (Calvert) - To make capital and other appropriations and to provide authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs.

Monday - House Finance & Appropriations (Room 313, 1 p.m.) 4th Hearing, All Testimony, Possible Amendments & Vote.

Tuesday - House Session (House Chambers, 11 a.m.) Vote, Pending Committee Report

* If needed, House Finance & Appropriations (Room 313, 1:30 p.m.) 5th Hearing, All Testimony, Possible Amendments & Vote.

SB 126 (Wachtmann) - To modify laws governing county hospitals.

Wednesday - House Health (Room 18, 9 a.m.) 4th Hearing, All Testimony, Amendments, Possible Vote.

SB 400 (Stivers) - To require hospitals to operate emergency departments and maintain Medicaid and Medicare provider agreements.

Wednesday - Senate Health, Human Services & Aging (Room 110, 2:30 p.m. or immediately following session) 1st Hearing, Sponsor Testimony.

Minimum Wage Implementation Bill Could Wrap Up Before Year-End
Legislation that will implement Issue 2, the minimum wage Constitutional amendment passed by voters this November, was introduced last week and Speaker of the House Jon Husted (R-Kettering) said he hopes to wrap this bill and other business up by Dec. 19. The passage of Issue 2 means an increase in the state's minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.85 an hour effective Jan. 1 but it also requires employers to keep detailed employee records and make wage and personal information available to the employee or someone acting on their behalf. OHA opposed Issue 2 based on concerns for the privacy of hospitals 240,000 employees.

OHA supports House Bill 690, sponsored by Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), and is working with a coalition of employer groups, such as the National Federation of Independent Business, the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Manufacturers' Association, the Ohio Restaurant Association and the Ohio Grocers' Association to ensure the bill provides clear direction to employers, while complying with the Constitutional changes approved by voters. The AFL-CIO, which was instrumental in bringing the issue before voters, has indicated its opposition to the bill. In testimony this week, a representative of the union said the bill circumvents the will of the voters by re-writing and weakening the constitutional amendment. (Nancy Falk, nancyf@ohanet.org)

Statewide Smoking Ban Takes Effect

The Smoke Free Workplace Act (Issue 5), passed by voters on Election Day, took effect yesterday and provides a statewide minimum standard to protect workers and the public from health hazards associated with exposure to secondhand smoke from tobacco. However, the state of Ohio yesterday agreed to not enforce the ban until regulations are in place, which will be no later than June of next year. For more information about the implementation of the Smoke Free Workplace Act, view an OHA Bulletin at www.ohanet.org/Bulletins/2006/06-012.htm. (Stacey Conrad, staceyc@ohanet.org)

OHA Tort Reform Bill Introduced

Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) last week introduced legislation on behalf of OHA that would build on medical liability lawsuit initiatives the General Assembly enacted in 2002, including immunity for free clinics. House Bill 692 would:

Require that negligent credentialing lawsuits against hospitals be brought only after the injured plaintiff establishes the malpractice of the health care professional involved.
Provide hospitals immunity for the performance of genetic screening tests that state law mandates they perform.
Provide hospitals are not liable for acts of independent contractors if hospitals inform the public of the contractors' identity.
Provide that medical professionals and hospitals are not liable for care they provide in emergency rooms unless they act with reckless disregard of the patients' best interests. (This language will likely be pulled from the bill.)
Clarify who may give informed consent to procedures on behalf of a patient, and allow hospitals to share with their lawyers medical information about a patient.

The bill also includes a provision which would prevent state hospitals from arguing in the Ohio Court of Claims that an injured victim must go on Medicaid in order to claim damages against a state hospital, and bar state hospitals from arguing that the damages owed to injured parties should be reduced by the amount a plaintiff did or could have received from Medicaid. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

OHA Supports Requirement That Hospitals Have EDs

OHA last week submitted a letter of support, signed by the CEOs of 13 major health systems from across the state, for Senate Bill 400, legislation that requires hospitals to operate 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week emergency departments and maintain Medicaid and Medicare provider agreements. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), has been referred to the Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee and is expected to receive hearings before the end of the year.

Hospitals are concerned with the influx of limited-service specialty hospitals since a federal moratorium, enacted in late 2003, expired in August 2006. The moratorium temporarily held off the growing threat, but more of these limited-service specialty hospitals are now being opened and planned across the state.

Identical companion legislation—House Bill 697, sponsored by Rep. Ross McGregor (R-Springfield)—was introduced in the House this week. It has not yet been referred to a committee. OHA is coordinating meetings with legislative leaders, and is encouraging hospital representatives to meet with and/or contact their local state representatives and senators this week. (Reed Fraley, reedf@ohanet.org, Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

OHA Amendment Clarifies Use of Controlled Egress Doors

A panel in the Ohio House of Representatives this week accepted an amendment clarifying in statute the permitted use of controlled egress doors in children’s hospitals, hospital maternity units and hospital psychiatric units statewide.

Beverly Capper, clinical manager of the Neonatal Transitional Care Unit at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, told the House Commerce and Labor Committee that current rules deal with the use of these types of doors by hospitals, however, they have been interpreted differently by local authorities and applied inconsistently throughout the state. “Ohio hospitals need a consistent, statewide standard permitting the use of controlled egress doors, so that we can adequately ensure the protection, safety and well being of our patients,” Capper said.

The amendment will ensure that local fire marshals can no longer issue citations against hospitals that have installed these doors, which has been the experience of several OHA member hospitals over the past few years. The bill will be accepted by the full House of Representatives and receive Senate concurrence before the legislature recesses later this month. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org; Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org).

OHA Advocacy “In the Know”

For each General Assembly, OHA publishes the OHA Advocacy Network Reference Manual, providing information at your fingertips on legislators, committees, health care related Web sites, grassroots strategies and more. In preparation for the 127th General Assembly, we would like your feedback.

Not a Member of the Advocacy Network?

Being a member of the OHA Advocacy Network provides you access to information on government activity and assists the hospital industry in sending unified messages to elected officials. If you are not a current member, you can easily join on-line. Join today to start reaping the benefits of being a member of the OHA Advocacy Network.

The OHA Advocacy Network is a service of the Ohio Hospital Association, 155 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215-3620, 614-221-7614, 614-221-4771 (fax)

Visit us on the Web at: www.ohanet.org

Direct questions on OHA’s advocacy agenda to:

Bridget Gargan, Vice President, State Policy & Advocacy (bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Jeff Klingler, Director, State Policy & Advocacy (jeffk@ohanet.org)

Jean Scholz, RN, Director, Health Policy (jeans@ohanet.org)

Rick Sites, General Counsel (ricks@ohanet.org)

Stacey Conrad, Specialist, State Policy & Advocacy (staceyc@ohanet.org)

Jonathan Archey, Manager, Federal Relations (jonathana@ohanet.org)

Laura Landis, Executive Assistant, State Policy & Advocacy (laural@ohanet.org)