Rotunda Archive

February 20, 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 support or opposition at bill hearings

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

• LB 34 - Require employment verification of employees by employers and by contractors who want to be awarded a public contract. View
• LB 149 – Require insurance coverage for prosthetics as prescribed. View
• LB 378 – Require insurance coverage of medical clinical trials. View
• LB 403 - Require verification of lawful presence in the United States to receive public benefits as prescribed. View
• LB 420 – Change a sales tax exemption relating to nonprofit organizations. Testimony supplied by NHA members
• LB 460 – Change a sales tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals. Testimony supplied by NHA members
• LB 489 – Adopt the Area Health Education Centers Act. View
• LB 493 – Require insurance coverage for cochlear implants. View
• LB 601 – Provide for a Medicaid waiver for community-based mental health services. View
• LB 603 – Adopt the Behavioral Health Workforce Act and provide funding. View
• LB 661 - Change preferred drug list provisions under the Medicaid Prescription Drug Act. View
• LB 678 – Change provisions relating to minutes of public meetings. 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. 23 – 26

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.

Monday, February 23

• LB 311 (Appropriations) - Provide for deficit appropriations
• LB 314 (Appropriations) - Appropriate funds for capital construction
• LB 514 (Business and Labor) - Change workers' compensation disability compensation provisions
• LB 556 (Business and Labor) - Change workers' compensation third-party claims provisions
• LB 622 (Business and Labor) - Provide time limits and penalties for late workers' compensation medical payments

Tuesday, February 24

• LB 326  (Banking) - Change provisions relating to the Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool Act
• LB 358 (Banking) - Change the Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool Act

Wednesday, February 25

• LB 136 (Health and Human Services) - Change provisions for eligibility for medical assistance
• LB 291 (Health and Human Services) - Require rules and regulations regarding safety, care, and habilitation of persons receiving developmental disabilities services
• LB 342 (Health and Human Services) - Provide duties for the Department of Health and Human Services relating to payment for pediatric feeding disorder treatment
• LB 356 (Judiciary) - Provide behavioral health services for children without parental relinquishment of custody
• LB 390 (Health and Human Services) - State intent regarding reimbursement rates for assisted services for persons with developmental disabilities
• LB 590 (Health and Human Services) - Change the Disabled Persons and Family Support Act to provide financial compensation and special food and medical needs provided by families

Thursday, February 26

• LB 208 (Health and Human Services) - Add false information about employees to the crime of fraudulent insurance act and to the Insurance Fraud Act
• LB 373 (Judiciary) - Change death and disability-related provisions pertaining to emergency response personnel
• LB 515 (Health and Human Services) - Change provisions relating to emergency medical responders
• LB 542 (Health and Human Services) - Provide for rules and regulations regarding dental assistants
• LB 592 (Health and Human Services) - Redefine a term under the Rural Health Systems and Professional Incentive Act
• LB 599 (Health and Human Services) - Require health care facilities to provide itemized billing statements upon patient's request
• LB 609 (Health and Human Services) - Provide for child-care contracts as prescribed and provide duties for the Department of Health and Human Services

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.

Health education center funding considered

LINCOLN—The Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony February 19 on a bill that would provide state funding for area health education center (AHEC) programs in Nebraska.

Cedar Rapids Senator Kate Sullivan, sponsor of LB 489, said the state has five AHECs that serve all of Nebraska’s 93 counties. AHECs are private, nonprofit health education centers that have cooperative agreements with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and that identify and implement strategies to address health care workforce needs in underserved urban and federally designated rural or nonmetropolitan communities, she said.

Sullivan said 49 Nebraska counties are federally designated shortage areas, either in whole or in part. Several factors exacerbate shortages, she said, including an aging workforce, high turnover, lower pay and lack of advancement opportunities. Read more.

— Unicameral Update, February 20, 2009
 

Committee considers requiring coverage for prosthetics

LINCOLN—Insurance plans would be required to cover the cost of prosthetic care under a bill heard by the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee February 17.

Under LB 149, introduced by Louisville Senator Dave Pankonin, prosthetics would have to be deemed medically necessary by the treating physician to be covered. Minimum coverage would be equal to coverage provided by Medicare. Prosthetics are defined as artificial legs, arms and associated components.

Eleven states have passed legislation similar to LB 149 and 27 states are developing similar legislation, Pankonin said. Read more.

— Unicameral Update, February 18, 2009

 

Faced with 'death by fiscal note,' Dubas shifts gears

LINCOLN—Senator Annette Dubas thought she was seeking minor changes, asking that the Nebraska Energy Office focus on renewable energy, something that might cost less than $100,000. So she was surprised by the $5.3 million estimated cost of her proposed changes.

The estimate, called a fiscal note, was prepared by energy office staff, who answer directly to the governor.

“There is a phrase for this: Death by fiscal note,” Dubas told the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee during a hearing on LB 567.

“You receive a fiscal note so large, that the note alone will doom your bill,” Dubas said as she questioned the validity of the estimate.

The Legislature’s fiscal staff, who provide a second opinion, also questioned the $5.3 million, saying it “appears to be excessive.” Read more.

— Lincoln Journal Star, February 19, 2009

 

Health care industry in talks to shape policy

WASHINGTON—Since last fall, many of the leading figures in the nation's health care debate have been meeting secretly in a Senate hearing room. Now, they appear to be inching toward a consensus that could reshape the debate.

Many of the parties, from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies, are embracing the idea that comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance. Read more.

— New York Times, February 20, 2009

 

Commonwealth Fund panel proposes health system reforms

WASHINGTON—In a report Thursday, the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System called for broad, comprehensive reforms to extend affordable health coverage to all, improve health outcomes and slow spending growth by an estimated $3 trillion by 2020.

The proposal would create an insurance exchange offering a choice of private plans and a new public plan; require everyone to have health coverage, with income-related premiums to make coverage affordable; reform the insurance market to focus com­petition on outcomes and value; reform the payment system to encourage coordinated care, quality improvement and efficient use of resources; encourage investment in health information technology; create a center for comparative effectiveness to enhance knowledge and appropriate use of evidence-based care; and promote health and disease prevention.

Commission members include James Mongan, M.D., president and CEO of Partners HealthCare System in Boston and the panel’s chair, and Glenn Steele Jr., M.D., president and CEO of Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA, and an AHA trustee. Read more.

— AHA News Now, February 20, 2009

AHA Annual Membership Meeting

Join your colleagues April 26–29 in Washington, D.C., at the 2009 AHA Annual Membership Meeting to hear the latest on the forces buffeting health care, and to take hospitals’ message to Capitol Hill. The agenda includes prominent keynote speakers such as former Nightline host Ted Koppel, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher and former Secretary of State James Baker ... executive briefings on important health care topics, an opportunity to earn ACHE credits … and more!
 

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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