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NHA offers testimony at recent bill hearings
- Support for LB 236 – Provide requirements for in-home personal care service workers
- Support for LB 246
– Provide requirements for coroners relating to the procurement of anatomical gifts and provide for civil and criminal immunity
- Support for LB 397 – Adopt the In-home Personal Care Services Act
- Support for LB 401
- Provide for notations on drivers' licenses and state identification cards regarding advance medical directives. (Testimony provided by LaDonna VanEngen RN, CHPN, Saint Elizabeth Hospice and Palliative Care)
- Support for LB 531 – Provide tax credits for employers providing health insurance
- Support for LB 555 – Change provisions relating to home- and community-based services
- Neutral on LB 588 – Change provisions relating to the hospital fee schedule and payment of providers
Senators debate statewide smoking ban
Tobacco got no love Tuesday during debate at the Capitol on a statewide smoking ban.
But property rights, personal freedom and free market concepts got valentines from state senators.
And it was clear legislators are going to do plenty of talking about the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act. LB395, sponsored by Sens. Joel Johnson of Kearney, Ray Aguilar of Grand Island and Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center, would ban smoking at worksites and other public places. It is modeled after Lincoln’s city ordinance.
As of Tuesday, the bill had collected at least 15 amendments, one of which was voted down.
Read the complete Lincoln Journal Star article by JoAnne Young at http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/02/13/news/politics/doc45d2329c90b0e950577368.txt.
Appropriations Committee members get ready for budget pleas
The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee is steeling itself for some potentially long hearings with state agencies beginning next week.
Agencies will have an opportunity to come in and try to persuade committee members to fund their requests – many of which are higher than either the committee or the governor seems willing to give them in the next two budget years.
The committee had said Monday it would shoot for an overall 4 percent increase in state spending growth. That’s slightly higher than Gov. Dave Heineman’s 3.8 percent increase.
Read the complete Lincoln Journal Star article by JoAnne Young at http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/02/15/news/politics/doc45d511967336e163946180.txt.
Bill would expand Medicaid coverage of autism
The signs of autism began showing for Emma Larson when she was 18 months old.
She began losing speech and some other skills she had acquired. Her temper tantrums got stronger and stronger.
An evaluation by Lincoln Public Schools determined Emma had speech delays, and specialists began working with her one hour a week, said her mother, Terri Larson. When she eventually was diagnosed with autism, a developmental disability that affects verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, behavior and educational performance, the Larsons learned from other experts that Emma could benefit greatly from 25 to 40 hours of specialized therapy a week.
Now, at age 3, she gets only 12.5 hours a week. Getting the full private therapy she needs would cost the family $55,000 a year, said David Larson, Emma’s father.
A bill (LB482) discussed Wednesday by the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee would require the state to expand Medicaid coverage of early intervention for autistic children younger than 9.
Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney, who introduced the bill, said that in Nebraska, 1,400 to 1,500 children younger than 9 have been diagnosed with autism. The disorder occurs in one in every 150 children, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Read the complete Lincoln Journal Star article by JoAnne Young at http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/02/14/news/politics/legistature/doc45d3d16ae1910146188615.txt.
AARP supports Rx card for moderate income
Both the state and low- to moderate-income Nebraskans without health insurance could save money under a bill dealing with prescription costs, supporters said at a news conference and public hearing on Thursday.
The bill, LB699, would require the state to create a preferred drug list and negotiate lower drug prices by joining a multi-state purchasing pool, saving the state money on Medicaid. The state would then create a state prescription drug card that would pass on the drug cost savings to low- and moderate-income Nebraskans who have no health insurance.
Read the complete Lincoln Journal Star article by Nancy Hicks online at http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/02/15/news/politics/doc45d4fbcb80b62441402530.txt.
State budget panel sets goal of 4 percent growth
A legislative committee charged with recommending how much the state should spend in the next two years set a soft target Monday of 4 percent growth.
That’s slightly above Gov. Dave Heineman’s target of 3.8 percent growth in state spending but more realistic, said members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee.
The state’s 10-year average is about 5.4 percent. As of Monday, based on spending levels agreed to so far and with a few agencies left to review, the committee had preliminary growth at 4.9 percent.
Read the complete Lincoln Journal Star article by JoAnne Young and Nancy Hicks online at
http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/02/13/news/politics/doc45d13d4daa82c590809338.txt.
Preliminary state spending growth deemed too much to swallow
LINCOLN - Members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee added up their preliminary budget decisions Monday and immediately started backpedaling.
Their initial decisions would have increased state spending by an average of 4.9 percent during each of the next two fiscal years.
But after a couple of hours' discussion and an informal vote, committee members set 4 percent average annual growth as their budget target and agreed to review their earlier decisions in an attempt to reach that figure.
"It's a goal. It's not a line in the sand," said State Sen. Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek, the committee chairman.
Earlier Monday, Gov. Dave Heineman said he hoped that the committee would wind up with a budget proposal similar to the one he recommended.
Read the complete Omaha World Herald article by Martha Stoddard online at http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1000&u_sid=2330485.
Heineman faces competition for tax cut funding
LINCOLN - Gov. Dave Heineman's walk on the tax cut tightrope is getting trickier with each day that passes in the Legislature.
His $240 million a year proposal to cut income taxes and other taxes is starting to wobble from the weight of the Legislature's early spending decisions.
His comments last week, supporting a potentially costly Omaha-area schools plan adds more uncertainty.
It remains too early to predict the fate of Heineman's tax cut proposal, or other tax reduction plans on this year's legislative agenda, lawmakers and others say.
But "the budget pressures are mounting," said Greg Lemon of the Nebraska Tax Research Council.
A projected $300 million revenue surplus over the next 21/2 years has spurred calls for a state tax cut - and generated at least 11 bills proposing them.
Heineman's tax cut proposal, however, not only consumes that projected surplus but also assumes state spending growth would be limited to an average of 3.8 percent in each of the next four years. Money for a tax cut would shrink if the state winds up spending more than that.
Read the complete Omaha World Herald article by Leslie Reed online at http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1000&u_sid=2329288.
Hearing schedule for Feb. 19-23
Monday, February 19 – GOVERNMENT HOLIDAY
Tuesday, February 20
LB 253 (Transportation) Adopt the Motorcycle Safety and Training Act and change motorcycle helmet provisions
Wednesday, February 21
LB 65 (Judiciary) Change the statute of repose for the Nebraska Hospital – Medical Liability Act
LB 171 (HHS) Require Department of HHS to apply for food stamp options and waivers
LB 292 (HHS) Provide for transfers of county funds for Medicaid purposes
LB 450 (Judiciary) Provide immunity for employer disclosure of certain employee information
LB 457 (Judiciary) Change provisions governing court review of foster care placement
LB 513 (HHS) Provide billing requirements for anatomic pathology services
LB 518 (HHS) Change provisions relating to the eligibility of children under the Medicaid Assistance Act
LB 666 (HHS) Provide for eligibility for certain federal programs upon release from incarceration as prescribed
LB 673 (Judiciary) Modify the definition of malpractice or professional neglect to include sexual abuse, misconduct, or exploitation
LR 10 (HHS) Urge Nebraska’s congressional delegation to ensure that Congress timely reauthorizes the State Children Health Insurance Program
Thursday, February 22
LB 369 (HHS) Redefine mental health practice for licensure of mental health practitioners
LB 424 (Judiciary) Prohibit the breathing, inhaling, or drinking of certain compounds
LB 569 (Revenue) Change tax levy authority relating to hospital districts
LB 610 (HHS) Provide documentation and recordkeeping requirements for the Department of Health and Human Services regarding sex offenders
LB 616 (HHS) Eliminate a provision relating to regional behavioral health authorities
LB 617 (HHS) Change provisions relating to children’s behavioral health
LB 670 (HHS) Create the Council on the Management and Treatment of Sex Offenders
Friday, February 23**
LB 257 (Judiciary) Adopt the Public Guardianship Act
LB 417 (HHS) Include invasive pneumococcal disease as a childhood immunization requirement
LB 469 (HHS) Change funding restrictions under the Nebraska Health Care Funding Act
LB 480 (HHS) Change provisions relating to the Nebraska Health Care Funding Act
LB 575 (Revenue) Exempt assisted-living facilities from sales and use taxes
**Last day for HHS Committee hearings – February 23, 2007
NHA Advocacy Day
The Nebraska Hospital Association’s annual Advocacy Day event is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln. Several senators have already registered for this event! Register
TODAY!
If you have questions about NHA Advocacy Day, please contact Kris Claussen, Office Administrator, at 402/742-8145 or
kclaussen@nhanet.org.
NHA testimony presented at the hearings can be found on the NHA Web site Advocacy Page-Bill
Status.
NHA Rotunda Review is published by the Nebraska Hospital Association, 3255 Salt
Creek Circle, Lincoln, NE 68504. Phone (402) 742-8140, Fax (402) 742-8191. Visit our Web site at
http://www.nhanet.org. Angela Barry, editor, at
402/742-8143, or email, abarry@nhanet.org.
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