OHA Advocacy Network

Advocacy Report • Friday, May 9, 2008

Action for next week…

Wednesday

House Health Room 017, 4 p.m.

SB175-Fetal Death: All testimony

Thursday

HB 456-Ohio Care: House Healthcare Access and Affordability Committee, Rm 17, 10 a.m. Testimony on Medicaid managed care/HCAP provisions, including testimony from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, University Hospital and Summa Health System.

Senate Health Committee Approves Maternity Licensure Bill

Legislation that will streamline Ohio’s maternity licensure statute was voted out of Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee Wednesday.

The bill, which is now awaiting a full Senate vote, would impact the 121 active hospital maternity units and three functional maternity homes in Ohio. OHA will issue a House Bill 331 bulletin once Gov. Ted Strickland signs the bill. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Opponents Missing During Testimony on Nurse Staffing Proposal

The Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee was scheduled to hear proponent and opponent testimony this week on House Bill 346, an OHA-supported nurse staffing proposal. However no witnesses surfaced to voice opposing views on the legislation.

The Ohio Nurses Association (ONA) did offer proponent testimony. Barbara A. Nash, president of ONA, said the bill would give direct patient care nurses a voice in adopting a staffing plan for the hospital in which they work. She noted that care requirements vary between hospitals, staffs and patients, and that hospitals need to have flexibility to deal with the variables. OHA and the Ohio Organization for Nurse Executives offered proponent testimony last month.

Last January, during the committee process in the House of Representatives, representatives of the California Nurses Association testified in opposition to HB 346, highly criticizing OHA, Ohio hospitals’ commitment to patient safety and the bill’s provisions. While CNA did not testify Wednesday against the legislation, it did sponsor full-page ads in newspapers around the state urging readers to contact legislators in support of a yet-to-be-introduce, nurse-to-patient ratio bill. The ratio bill could be introduced as early as next week by Rep. Kathleen Chandler (D-Kent). (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org).

Senate Health Committee Hears Pharmacy Technician Certification Bill

Legislation that would regulate pharmacy technicians in the state received a hearing this week in the Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee.

The bill, as it was introduced, would have required pharmacy technicians to be licensed by the state pharmacy board. As conditions of licensure, techs would need to be 18 years of age or older, have a high school diploma, complete a criminal records check and pass an examination administered by the Board of Pharmacy or by their employer or complete an educational program as well as a minimum number of hours of pharmacy tech training. The bill also would have also imposed a 3-to-1 pharmacist-to-technician ratio. In a letter to the Senate Health Committee, OHA voiced its opposition to provisions in the legislation, specifically the licensure of pharmacy techs and mandated ratios.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the committee adopted a new version of the legislation that calls for certification of pharmacy technicians. Certification requirements are similar to the licensure requirements in the original bill. Employers could be granted the ability to exceed the 3-to-1 ratio by the state pharmacy board if they submit a supervisory protocol. OHA will review the substitute bill with the OHA Quality Improvement and Accreditation Committee. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org).

House Committee Continues Analysis of Health Care Reform Bill, Sub Bill Due Soon

The Ohio House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee continues to invite testimony on the different provisions of House Bill 456, hearing comments this week on changing the eligibility age of dependent coverage on family insurance policies. Next week, the committee will hear testimony on Medicaid managed care contracting.

OHA supports the provision that would require insurers to offer coverage to dependent children until age 29 if they are Ohio residents or full-time students and do not have insurance coverage through an employer (regardless of whether they are married). OHA is coordinating testimony for next week’s hearing opposing the provision on Medicaid managed care contracting. It would require hospitals not under contract with a particular Medicaid managed care organization to provide services beyond emergency services to its patients without exception. In addition, it would reduce the amount a hospital can accept for providing the service.

The committee last week heard interested party testimony on provisions of the bill that would provide Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) discounts to employers that create health and wellness programs. The BWC legislative liaison testified that the proposal is not based on an actuarial analysis that identifies a reduction in costs, and that further examination is needed. Testimony from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce raised concerns about the potential impact of the proposed discounts on the solvency of the State Insurance Fund.

Committee Chairman Jim Raussen (R-Springdale) is expecting to release a substitute version of the legislation within the next two weeks. For more information on other provisions in HB 456, sponsored by Raussen, visit OHA’s Health Care Access & Affordability Web page. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Surgical Technician Licensure Considered

OHA has learned that Rep. Jim McGregor (R-Gahanna) has announced plans to introduce legislation requiring the licensure of surgical technicians. While OHA supports appropriate educational and competency assessments for those who provide patient care services to Ohio's citizens, it has traditionally opposed licensure of new categories of health care providers on the basis that excessive health care licensing regulations pose roadblocks for allowing health care organizations to develop plans to place the right person in the right job. Once introduced, OHA will process this legislation with the OHA Quality Improvement and Accreditation Committee. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Energy Bill Signed Into Law

Gov. Ted Strickland signed Ohio’s comprehensive energy bill last week. Senate Bill 221, sponsored by Sen. Robert Schuler (R-Cincinnati), will go into effect in 90 days, hopefully improving reliability and help Ohio avoid sharp increases in electric rates beginning next year. Overall, electric rates under the bill are expected to increase moderately during the next 2-3 years under electric security plans, although FirstEnergy rates may increase more significantly if it makes good on earlier statements that it planned next year to go to high market-based electric rates.

OHA is analyzing the bill and will provide a detailed member bulletin later this month. However, passage of SB 221 is considered a success because electric rates after this year were expected to increase, with the potential to jump dramatically as in states with deregulated electric rates. OHA is a member of the Ohio Coalition for Affordable Power, which supported SB 221 in its advocacy for a framework to ensure affordable and reliable power. For more information, visit OHA’s energy Web page. (Bridget Gargan; Rick Sites)

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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)