Friday, April 27, 2012

Legislative Update: Weel of April 23rd


This week the legislature put the pedal to the metal you could say and was set the tackle several issues including moving the budgets to their different chambers, and tackling the issue of cyber charter schools and lifting the cap in the amount of cyber charters can be in Michigan. Both chambers worked later than usual this week pushing the budget process forward, let’s review:

House:

The House Health Policy committee met this week with what looked to be a loaded agenda but last second four bills that dealt with oral chemotherapy parity were pulled due to the lack of the needed votes to pass the legislation. The committee did take testimony on House Bills 5089 and 5090 which created a repository for prescription drugs that were not used and still within their packaging and then also providing for a process for destruction for those prescription that cannot be used. Testimony was very positive on the issue, praising the legislature to creating a system that was seen as a first step to deal with the some of the problems associated with left over prescriptions. There were some concerns about the liability issues that could arise from dispensing the drugs again as they could be seen as "second rate" drugs. It is unknown when the committee will consider taking a vote on the issue.

The committee also considered Senate Bill 723 which creates the online Piece of Mind registry. MSMS stands in support of the legislation as it looks to privately streamline the way the power of attorney, do not resuscitate orders, and other end of life issues are handled. It is expected the committee will be voting on the legislation very soon.

The House Families, Children, and Seniors committee considered a package of bills that deal with elder abuse and creating elder death teams. MSMS was interested in Senate Bill 457 that required the county medical examiner to create an elder death team to investigate suspicious elder deaths. This is an issue that could, especially in rural areas in Michigan, hamper the ability of the medical examiner to complete his/hers duties. We will continue to watch this legislation.

Senate:

The Senate considered one item this week that did pique the interest of the Medical Society that provides for the overall public good. House Bill 4393 was passed out of the Senate and ordered to the Governor's office for signature. The bill would exempt minors that turn themselves in for treatment of alcohol poisoning or other complications associated with the overuse of alcohol from receiving a minor in position ticket. This is a great tool the now takes the fear away from kids that need the help but fear running into trouble with the law. The Governor's office has not voiced any concerns with the legislation.

The Senate Insurance committee considered and voted on extremely quickly House Bills 5408 and 5421 which would require insurers pay for telemedicine. This passed through the House pretty handily and is expected to do the same in the Senate. Abortion was the issue that returned to the Senate Judiciary committee this week. The committee considered House Bill 4798, 4799, 5134, 5181, and 5182 which is a package of bills that makes it illegal for a health professional, including physicians, to coerce anyone into an abortion. The Michigan chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists submitted a letter in opposition to the measures, MSMS stood with ACOG in agreement with their position. It is expected that the committee will vote on these measures in the coming weeks.

Appropriations:

This week the majority of the work in both the House and the Senate was associated with the budget. The Senate passed their version of the Department of Community Health budget, Senate Bill 950. The Senate continued it stance to keep Graduate Medical Education funded with a place holder and still keeping in the requirements for the department to rework the GME formula. One surprise though, was the addition of an amendment to the DCH budget that would allow smoking for fundraising events done privately and have been in existence for more than 10 years. The language was placed in the boilerplate section of the bill so its enforcement is somewhat questionable but this is one of what MSMS is sure to be, several attempts to weaken the Dr. Ron Davis smoking law.

The House wrapped their budgets up again into to separate bills, one called the school bus (all of the education appropriations) and the big bus (everything else). The House omnibus appropriations bill is 5365. The over six hundred page bill provides appropriations for several state departments. GME was continued at the current levels for this fiscal year but included an almost additional million dollars. The House did not consider the smoking amendment to the budget.

Now bills will switch chambers and consideration and budget targets will start to align. The next big day is in mid May when the Michigan Department of Treasury, House Fiscal Agency, and the Senate Fiscal Agency come together to revise revenue estimates for the coming fiscal year for the state. The timeline for the budget in completion by June 1st.

For more information on things happening in Lansing and beyond head to www.msms.org/advocacy. With elections right around the corner, your support to MDPAC helps to support our allies, support MDPAC at www.mdpac.org.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Legislative Update: Week of April 16th

As the legislature comes back into session after its two week spring break, money, appropriations and budgets weigh on the minds of the legislators. What does that mean for health care, well Medicaid and Medicaid funding are now the top topics floating around the halls of the Capitol, lets review the activities of this last week:

House:

The House Health Policy Committee did meet on Thursday to consider one bill House Bill 4718 which would allow dental assistant to work with dental hygienists when the dentist was not in the office to supervise, under current statues the dentist needs to be present in the office for a dental assistant to provide a second set of hands. Testimony was taken on the legislation and should be taken up for a vote next week. They also had a presentation from J & B Medical to demonstrate telemedicine and the products they were offering for physicians and patients.

Senate:

The Senate did not have Health Policy committee this week and the majority of the work done by the Senate surrounded environmental protections and rules for the Department of Environmental Quality.

Appropriations:

This is where the majority of the work in the Legislature was done this week. Both full Appropriations Committees considered their respective budget bills. The Senate continued with the recommendation from the subcommittee and had the $100 placeholder for graduate medical education and kept in the boilerplate (language that says how the money is needed to be spent or offers legislative intent) that the Department of Community Health needs to create a formula for GME funding that promotes primary care and keeping residents in Michigan.

The House committee agreed with their subcommittee and kept the $18 Million appropriated to graduate medical education. This is an increase from this current fiscal year of just under $1 Million. The chambers are expected to swap bills and start the process over again to come to some conclusion and to hopefully have the budget done by June 1.

Autism:

This week Governor Snyder was in Afghanistan to meet with the members of the Michigan National Guard and soldiers from Michigan offering support for those serving and letting them know there will be support for them when they return to Michigan. With the Governor being out of the country Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley was acting Governor for the past week and had the privilege of signing the Autism insurance bills. Lieutenant Governor Calley has personal experience dealing with Autism which made the bill signing an extra special event. MSMS was invited to attend the signing and did.

For more information concerning government and health activities or if your wondering what the legislature is doing, check out our website at http://www.msms.org/advocacy.

For those wanting to get involved in helping shape Michigan's direction visit and support MDPAC at http://www.mdpac.org