Rotunda Archive

February 16, 2009

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

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 offers testimony, letters of recommendation at bill hearings

LINCOLN—The legislature continued hearings on bills this week, many of which the NHA and member hospitals submitted a letter of recommendation or testified, including:

• LB 112 – Exclude certain rural health loan repayments from income taxation. View
• LB 371 – Change Medicaid Reform Plan and Medicaid Reform Council provisions. View
• LB 396 – Adopt the Medical Home Act. View
• LB 541 – Exempt certain adult dental services from medicaid limitations. View
• LB 610 – Change medicaid limitation provisions relating to services for persons with disabilities. View
• LB 656 – Adopt the Health Care Accessibility and Affordability Act. View

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

Hearing schedule for Feb. 17 – 20

The following "bills of interest" to NHA members are being heard in committees next week. Behind each bill number is the committee that will hear testimony.

If you would like to share your perspective on a particular bill or are interested in testifying at the hearing, 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.

Tuesday, February 17

• LB 149 (Banking) - Require insurance coverage for prosthetics as prescribed
• LB 255 (Transportation) - Require lap-shoulder belts in school buses
• LB 378 (Banking) - Require insurance coverage of medical clinical trials
• LB 493 (Banking) - Require insurance coverage for cochlear implants

Wednesday, February 18

• LB 34  (Judiciary) - Require employment verification of employees by employers and by contractors who want to be awarded a public contract
• LB 172 (Health and Human Services) - Change the False Medicaid Claims Act and create a fund
• LB 370 (Health and Human Services) - Require a Medicaid waiver application for family planning services
• LB 403 (Judiciary) - Require verification of lawful presence in the United States to receive public benefits as prescribed

Thursday, February 19

• LB 420 (Revenue) - Change a sales tax exemption relating to nonprofit organizations
• LB 460 (Revenue) - Change a sales tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals
• LB 480 (Revenue) - Change budget limit and tax levy limitation provisions
• LB 489 (Health and Human Services) - Adopt the Area Health Education Centers Act
• LB 601 (Health and Human Services) - Provide for a Medicaid waiver for community-based mental health services
• LB 603 (Health and Human Services) - Adopt the Behavioral Health Workforce Act and provide funding
• LB 639 (Government, Military, Veterans Affairs) - Change provisions relating to telephone conferencing for public meetings
• LB 661 (Health and Human Services) - Change preferred drug list provisions under the Medicaid Prescription Drug Act
• LB 678 (Government, Military, Veterans Affairs) - Change provisions relating to minutes of public meetings

Friday, February 20

• LB 408 (Health and Human Services) - Authorize consultation between veterinarians and other health care professionals

Click here click here to access the Unicameral's bill finder.


 

Last chance: Sponsorship opportunities available for 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.

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.

Thank you to the current NHA Advocacy Day sponsors:

Champion Sponsor
Baird Holm LLP

Legislative Table Sponsors
Visions in Architecture
The MMIC Group
Pinpoint Communications, Inc.

Contributor Sponsors
Cada, Frocheiser, Cada & Hoffman
Humana
Knudsen, Berkheimer, Richardson & Endacott LLP
Ruth Mueller Robak LLC

Coffee Break Sponsor
Radcliffe and Associates

Nebraska ranked 10th-best for policies affecting small business health costs

Nebraska is the 10th-best state for policies affecting the cost of health care for small businesses, according to the latest ranking by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. “If policymakers are serious about having a positive impact on health care, then significantly limiting the number of mandates and regulations makes sense at the federal and state levels,” the SBE Council said in a statement.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council is a nonprofit research and lobbying group founded to protect the small-business sector. The index was prepared by the SBE Council’s chief economist, Raymond J. Keating, and is based on evaluations of each state’s position on five key measures: Mandates imposed on health insurers; “Pay or play” mandates for businesses (requiring employers to either provide health insurance coverage to their workers or pay a tax toward government-provided care); Community-rating mandates for the small-group market (requiring that insurers charge the same fees to all clients in a defined region regardless of their health risks); Guaranteed-issue mandate for the self-employed group-of-one market (individuals may not be turned down for health insurance coverage no matter the condition of their health or risk status); and State tax deductibility for health savings accounts (HSAs).

Receiving the “best” ranking for health policy costs was Idaho, with 1.08 points, followed by Utah (1.48), Iowa (1.58), Michigan and Ohio (1.63), Alaska (1.73), South Carolina (1.78), South Dakota (1.88), Pennsylvania (1.90) and, tied for 10th place, Nebraska and Wyoming (1.93 points apiece). Massachusetts was last among the 50 states, with its final score of 4.81 points. Colorado was the only neighboring state to make the index's “bottom ten.”

— Nebraska Chamber Update, February 12, 2009
 

Supporters say medical home plan bill would save big money

LINCOLN—The medical home program has saved money and provided better care in pilot programs across the country, supporters said Wednesday. It saved $34 million with 1.7 million Medicaid clients in Illinois. It saved $230 to $260 million with 700,000 Medicaid patients in North Carolina, supporters said. The medical home model is the “new wave of the future,” said Lon Lowrey, representing Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. These family doctors provide guidance and education. They call patients to remind them to get their blood pressure checked. They often have expanded hours or even make house calls, said Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island, sponsor of the bill. Read more.

— Lincoln Journal Star, February 11, 2009

 

House passes final economic recovery bill

WASHINGTON—The House Friday voted 246-183 to approve a final version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1), a compromise between the House- and Senate-passed versions.

The bill temporarily increases Medicaid’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage by nearly $87 billion and state disproportionate share hospital allotments by 2.5 percent, and requires states to maintain current program eligibility. It also extends AHA-backed moratoria on certain Medicare and Medicaid regulations and urges that the Secretary of Health and Human Services not promulgate Medicaid rules concerning cost-limits for public hospitals, graduate medical education and provider taxes. Among other provisions, the bill provides subsidies to help the recently unemployed maintain COBRA coverage for up to nine months, relief for long-term care hospitals, and $19 billion through Medicare and Medicaid to help physicians and hospitals—including critical access hospitals—adopt health information technology.

In encouraging the bill’s passage, AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said, “This bill is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to further refine some of the provisions and expand on others in our efforts to improve health care for all Americans.” View side-by-side comparison.

— AHA Web site, February 16, 2009

 

AHA voices support for rural hospital bill

WASHINGTON—The American Hospital Association (AHA) expressed support for legislation (H.R. 362/S. 318) that would improve Medicare payments to rural hospitals that are too large to be critical access hospitals, but too small to be financially viable under the Medicare prospective payment system. Recently introduced by Representative Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), the legislation would allow such Medicare-dependent hospitals to receive the non-wage-adjusted payment rate and a low-volume adjustment for Medicare inpatient services. It also includes a prospective ban on physician self-referral to hospitals in which a physician has an ownership interest. In letters recently, the AHA applauded Boswell and Grassley for their commitment to America’s rural health care providers.

— AHA Web site, February 9, 2009

 

U.S. to compare medical treatments

WASHINGTON—Under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill approved by Congress, researchers will receive $1.1 billion to compare drugs, medical devices, surgery and other ways of treating specific conditions.

The bill creates a council of up to 15 federal employees to coordinate the research and to advise President Obama and Congress on how to spend the money. The program responds to a growing concern about the soaring cost of healthcare and that doctors have little or no solid evidence of the value of many treatments. Supporters of the research hope it will eventually save money by discouraging the use of costly, ineffective treatments. Read more.

— New York Times, February 16, 2009



 

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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