OHA Advocacy Network

Advocacy Report • Friday, April 4, 2008

Action for next week…

Tuesday

HB 254 - Child Obesity: House Education Committee, Room 116 at 4 pm (All testimony, Possible substitute)

Wednesday

HB 355 – Medicaid Fraud: House Civil & Commercial Law Committee, Room 122 at 2:30 pm (All testimony)

SB 229 – Radiologist Assistants: Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee, South Hearing Room at 2:30 pm (All testimony, Possible amendments/substitute)

SB 278 – Colorectal Cancer: Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee, South Hearing Room at 2:30 pm (All testimony)

SB 279 – Medical Board: Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee, South Hearing Room at 2:30 pm (Proponent testimony)

SB 304 – Infant Surrenders: Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee, South Hearing Room at 2:30 pm (Proponent testimony)

SB 115 – Child Insurance: Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee, North Hearing Room at 3:30 pm (All testimony)

Thursday

Joint Committee on Medicaid Technology & Reform: Room 115 at 9 am (John Corlett, Medicaid Program Director, will give a status update of cost containment, caseloads, and budget implementation)

HB 456 – Health Care Reform: House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee, Room 17 at 10 am (Testimony on defining roles in public dentistry)

Hospitals Testify on Charity Care & Health Information Technology Provisions in HB 456

The Ohio House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee Wednesday heard testimony from hospital representatives and other stakeholders on the charity care provisions in House Bill 456, sponsored by Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Springdale). The bill proposed many proposals to reform health care in Ohio, including a provision defining the charitable care hospitals provide and requiring the distribution of charity care information to the public. Hospital representatives testified in support of hospital charity care reporting, and asked that the committee also consider the many other charitable commitments hospitals make to promote the health and economic vitality of their communities.

Tracy Carter, director of advocacy and health policy for Summa Health System, noted that the system is the leading corporate citizen in its community and supports over 20,000 full-time jobs in the Akron region. She voiced support for the shared vision of OHA, the Catholic Health Association and the American Hospital Association of moving beyond charity care to improve the overall health of communities.

Timothy Teynor, vice president of public policy for the Aultman Health Foundation, supported the provision that hospitals publish charity care and tax data on their Web sites, which gives hospitals the ability to also provide other appropriate community benefit data. Brian Bucklew, president and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, also voiced support for the bill’s charity care requirements.

Renee George, regional vice president of revenue cycle at Mercy Health Partners Southwest Ohio, testified that her hospitals were among the leaders in voluntarily crafting guidelines for community benefit reporting through the Catholic Health Association (CHA). George advocated for standards in HB 456 to be consistent with existing CHA and IRS guidelines for Ohio hospitals.

Tim Keen, senior policy advisor for Auditor of State Mary Taylor, and Cathy Levine, executive director of UHCAN Ohio, also testified.

Last Wednesday, the committee heard testimony on health information technology, including testimony from OHA senior director Dan Paoletti. Paoletti testified that Ohio hospitals and other providers currently invest millions of dollars in the development of electronic medical records (EMRs) and the ability to exchange health information, but that the process is ongoing and presents certain challenges. He noted the large price tag involved in developing this capability statewide, the need to address compatibility between different technologies and the importance of assisting small and rural providers with the financial impact of meeting new electronic requirements. Paoletti voiced support for certain provisions of HB 456, including the creation of a Health Information Technology Advisory Board. But he questioned the bill’s mandate that all counties have the ability to submit EMRs for Medicaid recipients by 2015, citing the financial implications to both providers and the public.

Also testifying at last week’s hearing were Brian Keaton, MD, Summa Health System and Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization; Trudi Matthews, HealthBridge; Fred Richards, HTP, Inc.; and Jeff Smith, Ohio State Medical Association. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

OHA Seeking Payroll Tax Data for Advocacy Efforts
Monday, OHA sent a survey to hospital government relations contacts requesting data, by zip code, on the payroll taxes of hospitals. OHA will use the data to provide state and federal elected officials with a quantifiable snapshot of the fiscal impact of hospital employees, which will enhance OHA’s and the Ohio hospital community’s advocacy efforts. OHA is requesting hospital-specific data on local, state and federal payroll taxes and contributions to Medicare and Social Security, by Ohio zip code. Each hospital is asked to complete one survey questionnaire for the hospital’s 2006 fiscal year and another for the hospital’s 2007 fiscal year by April 30, 2008. The data will also be used in OHA’s 2008 community benefit report. View memo to government relations contacts. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org; Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)

Health Care Advisory Group Discussed Potential Reforms
The Healthcare Coverage Reform Advisory Committee met last week to continue its discussions on meeting Gov. Ted Strickland’s goal to reduce Ohio’s uninsured population by 500,000 by 2011. The committee reacted to specific reform proposals developed by the State Coverage Initiative (SCI) team, which will ultimately author the final set of recommendations given to the governor and legislature later this spring.

Members of the committee had concerns about a proposed connector, which would work much like the public/private entity created in Massachusetts in 2006 called the Commonwealth Connector. As drafted, providers, including hospitals, would be paid no more than Medicare rates by the connector.

Without having reached consensus on the various SCI proposals, the Advisory Committee scheduled another meeting on April 17 for continued discussion. View SCI proposal. (Jim Castle, jimc@ohanet.org; Ryan Biles, ryanb@ohanet.org)

Governor Strickland Signs Legislation into Law

While state legislators were on recess last month, Gov. Ted Strickland signed two pieces of legislation that will affect Ohio’s hospitals.

HEALTH CARE SIMPLIFICATION ACT

On Tuesday, March 25, Gov. Strickland signed House Bill 125, the Health Care Simplification Act, which is supported by OHA. Sponsored by Rep. Matt Huffman (R- Lima), the bill contains a number of managed care contracting reforms and brings more uniformity to the contracting process.

Significant provisions include a two-year moratorium on the use of most favored rate clauses in new hospital contracts while a joint legislative study commission considers the effects of such clauses on the health care system. In addition, provisions were included to protect against unlawful silent preferred provider organizations and to prevent unilateral material amendments by health plans. Third party payers must provide a summary disclosure form with each contract and must make available certain information about the reimbursement methodology and payment terms. The bill was heavily negotiated with participation by legislators and interested parties, including OHA, physicians, health plans and employer groups and went through many versions between its introduction last year and enactment.

OHA is preparing a detailed analysis of the act for members. View a copy of the Health Care Simplification Act.

CORPORATION AND PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION LAWS

On Friday March 21, Gov. Strickland signed House Bill 160, supported by OHA and sponsored by Rep. Danny Bubp (R-West Union). The act makes several technical, but significant, changes to Ohio's corporation and property tax exemption laws.

The act changes Ohio law to specifically allow limited liability companies (LLCs) to be formed for nonprofit purposes. A recent interpretation by the Ohio Secretary of State questioned the permissible purposes of LLCs and resulted in the rejection of nonprofit articles for new LLCs. In addition, changes were made to clarify the requirement that a county treasurer's certificate accompany all property tax exemption applications. The act allows the Ohio Department of Taxation to give applicants notice and opportunity to correct deficient applications and allows lessees and others to file property exemption applications. Finally, the language acknowledges transfers of tax-exempt property between a single member nonprofit LLC and its nonprofit member. The changes apply retroactively to applications pending or on appeal.

OHA worked with the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio Department of Taxation, which supported amendments to assist hospitals with the property tax issues. View OHA’s letter of support and view the act. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org; Mary Gallagher, maryg@ohanet.org)

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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, Manager, State Policy & Advocacy (staceyc@ohanet.org)

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

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