Rotunda Archive

January 23, 2009

The Nebraska Hospital Association – Nebraska's influential voice for health care.

NHA Legislative bill status

Nebraska Legislature online

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The Unicameral Web site has been redesigned and includes comprehensive information about the senators, bill status, legislative calendar and news.

If you have questions or concerns about any state legislation, please contact Bruce Rieker, Vice President, Advocacy, at (402) 742-8146 or brieker@nhanet.org; or Cora Micek, Advocacy Coordinator, at (402) 742-8153 or cmicek@nhanet.org. 

NHA shows support for rural health program

LINCOLN—LB 196, introduced by Papillion Senator Tim Gay, would exempt, from the state’s open contract requirements, student loans and other loan repayment contracts for those participating in the Nebraska Rural Health Systems and Professional Incentive Act. Testimony was heard by the Health and Human Services Committee January 21 intended to clarify requirements for a program aimed at encouraging health professionals to locate shortage areas.

The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA), on behalf of its member hospitals, submitted a letter of support, urging lawmakers to change the loan agreement provisions.

The act is a loan forgiveness program aimed at drawing professionals to areas of Nebraska with a shortage of health care providers. Under the bill, contracts executed pursuant to the Nebraska Rural Health Systems and Professional Incentive Act would be exempt from two statutes that regulate state contracts. The statutes outline procedures required to standardize the awarding of state service contracts.

No one testified in opposition to LB196. The committee took no immediate action on the bill.

 

NHA offers its voice at recent bill hearings

LINCOLN—The legislature began hearings on many bills this week, many of which the NHA submitted a letter of support, including:

• LB 68 - Provide procedures for closure of state residential facilities for persons with developmental disabilities. View letter
• LB 84 - Eliminate the termination date for the Women's Health Initiative. View letter
• LB 146 - Provide for simulated pharmacies. View letter
• LB 165 - Change revenue laws. Andrew Pollock, lobbyist for FONNH testified on behalf of FONNH and NHA
  LB 180 - Change provisions relating to solid waste management. View letter
• LB 196 - Change loan agreement provisions under the Rural Health Systems and Professional Incentive Act. View letter

The NHA will continue to monitor bills of interest and take the necessary actions that best represent.
For current advocacy alerts and updates, visit the NHA's Advocacy Action Center.
 

NHA accepting nominations for Advocacy Team of the Year

At the NHA 2009 Advocacy Day on Tuesday, March 31, the Association will present the “NHA Advocacy Team of the Year” award. This award recognizes the advocacy achievements of one hospital team during the 2008. Did you meet with your state senator in 2008? Did your hospital staff communicate with elected officials on key issues affecting health care? If so, your hospital could be the next "Advocacy Team of the Year."

NHA member hospital CEOs and Advocacy Team Chairs will be receiving nomination forms in the mail this week, or you can download a form on the NHA Web site. The deadline for nominations is February 27, 2009. For more information, please contact Cora Micek, Advocacy Coordinator, at 402/742-8153 or cmicek@nhanet.org. 


 

Sponsorship opportunities available for March 31 Advocacy Day

The Nebraska Hospital Association's annual Advocacy Day event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31, at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln.

In 2008, 86 hospital representatives gathered at the Cornhusker Marriott in Lincoln to learn about legislation that impacts health care delivery in Nebraska. The Advocacy Day luncheon was attended by nearly 200 individuals from across the state, including 38 senators.

This year's scheduled speakers include: Governor Dave Heineman; Rhonda Hawks Chair, Behavioral Health Oversight Commission Founder, Hawks Foundation; Steve Wengel, M.D., and Susan Boust, M.D. University of Nebraska Medical Center; Virginia Tilden, D.N.Sc, Dean of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Paul Muraca, AHA Regional Executive; Laura J. Redoutey, FACHE, NHA President; Bruce Rieker, NHA Vice President, Advocacy and Cora Micek, NHA Advocacy Coordinator.

If you are interested in sponsoring Advocacy Day, contact Kelley Porter, Director of Communications, at kporter@nhanet.org or (402) 742-8151 or click here.

Nebraska lawmakers see fewest bills in 26 years

LINCOLN—Credit term limits or the bum economy, but Nebraska lawmakers introduced the fewest bills in 26 years to open a two-year legislative cycle.

And some of the bills that didn't get introduced were noteworthy. For instance, there were no proposals to change Nebraska's split system of awarding electoral college votes for president.

"I'm pleasantly surprised," said State Sen. Amanda McGill of Lincoln, a Democrat who supports the current system. "With all the attention Nebraska got, the timing would have been really bad." Read more.

— Omaha World-Herald, January 23, 2009
 

State official: Closing Beatrice center is possible

A Nebraska official who oversees the troubled Beatrice State Developmental Center says that closing it is a possibility.

John Wyvill, developmental disabilities director for the state, said Thursday that he cannot guarantee that the center for Nebraskans with developmental disabilities won't be closed, and that doing so is "potentially a possibility."

Wyvill made the comments after a legislative hearing on a bill (LB 68) that would bar the state's executive branch from closing the center without first getting approval from the Legislature. During the hearing, Wyvill spoke on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services. The center is at risk of losing about $29 million in federal funds because of repeated problems.

— Lincoln Journal Star, January 22, 2009
 

Bill would let cities opt out of smoking ban

Nebraskans could vote to allow smoking in restaurants and bars in their cities or counties despite a statewide smoking ban, under a bill state lawmakers will consider. Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber introduced a bill (LB 611) Wednesday to let cities and villages opt out of the statewide smoking ban passed by lawmakers last year. The law goes into effect in June.

A city council or county board could vote to put the issue on the ballot, or voters could get it on the ballot by petition.

 Lawmakers last year considered an opt-out clause but rejected the idea. The ban will apply to smoking in all workplaces in the state except for retail tobacco shops and places where smoking research is done. Hotel rooms are also exempted.

— Lincoln Journal Star, January 22, 2009
 

AHA voices support for stimulus bill’s health IT provisions

WASHINGTON—The AHA Thursday expressed support for the health information technology (HIT) provisions in the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 598), which would require the federal government to develop technical standards for an interoperable HIT system. In a letter to the House Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce committees, the association said the bill would provide significant financial incentives for hospitals and doctors to move to the new technologies. However, the AHA expressed concern that incentive payments would not be available to hospitals with fewer than 25 beds, including Critical Access Hospitals. “The cost of acquiring HIT hardware and implementing and maintaining these new systems may be beyond their reach, even with the targeted grants and loans provided in the bill,” the association noted.

— AHA News Now, January 22, 2009

 

Key dates of 2009 Legislative Session

• Jan. 8: Session begins
• Jan. 15: Governor’s State of the State Address
• Jan. 20: Committee hearings begin
• Jan. 21: Last day to introduce bills
• Feb. 4: Speaker’s office will begin accepting senator and committee priority designations and requests for speaker priority designations
• Mar. 12: Deadline for designation of committee and senator priority bills
• Mar. 12: Deadline to submit a letter to the Speaker requesting his designation of a bill as a 2009 speaker priority bill
• Mar. 31: All day debate begins on floor
• June 4: Sine Die adjournment 
  
   

For more information about health-related legislative bills or resolutions, contact: Bruce Rieker, Vice President, Advocacy, at (402) 742-8146 or brieker@nhanet.org or Cora Micek, Advocacy Coordinator, at (402) 742-8153 or cmicek@nhanet.org.

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. Kelley Porter, editor, at 402/742-8151, or email, kporter@nhanet.org.

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