Current Bills for the Indiana Legislature
Listed below are some of the current bills being considered in Indiana. These summaries come from the Indiana State Medical Association.
Bill: SB 351 – Medical Review Panel
Author: Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford
ISMA Position: Support
This Week: The full Senate considered SB 351 and voted 46-3 in favor of the measure. The bill will now move to the House.
The bill, as amended, will require members of medical review panels to make two attempts to meet in person before the panel chairperson can allow a member to participate via telephone or videoconference.
Current law does not specifically allow a member of a medical review panel to participate in a panel meeting via telephone. While many physicians have participated on review panels on the telephone, the explicit allowance for such capability does not exist.
Bill: SB 503 – Healthier Indiana Insurance Program
Author: Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis
ISMA Position: Support
This Week: The Senate Health and Provider Services Committee held a special hearing dedicated solely to this bill. Many advocates in the health care industry testified.
ISMA President Vidya Kora, M.D., testified on behalf of the association. His testimony focused on four key points the ISMA Commission on Legislation and ISMA leadership developed regarding the uninsured:
Access to quality medical care for all Hoosiers
Administrative simplicity for patients and providers
Reasonable reimbursement to cover costs
Stable financing
The bill was not voted on this week in order for the committee to take into consideration all the testimony that was offered. The bill is expected to be voted on at next week’s hearing, which coincides with ISMA’s Medicine Day.
The bill includes provisions necessary to enact the structural provisions of the Governor’s Plan to cover the uninsured. The bill also makes funding changes to the Hospital Care for the Indigent program, the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Program, and the Medicaid indigent care trust fund.
Furthermore, the bill requires the Indiana Comprehensive Health Insurance Association to establish a new concept termed Health for High-risk Hoosiers.
Bill: HB 1547 – Health Care Certificate of Need
Author: Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville
ISMA Position: Oppose
This Week: The House Public Health Committee heard this bill on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Testimony in support of the bill came from the local county hospital in the bill author’s district. Also, testimony in support was offered by one large hospital chain and by an auto manufacturer concerned with rising health care costs.
The ISMA opposed the legislation, stressing that competition in the health care market is of utmost importance, especially when a tremendous amount of industry regulation exists at the federal and state levels. Also opposing the bill was the Indiana Hospital and Health Association, the Indiana Federation of Ambulatory Surgical Centers and the Indiana Academy of Ophthalmology.
Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, chairman of the House Public Health Committee, did not vote the bill at the request of the author, Rep. Foley, R-Martinsville.
The bill would require the Indiana State Department of Health to re-institute a certificate of need program for Indiana. Certificates of need would be required to build or expand any hospital, ambulatory surgery center or comprehensive care bed.
Bill: HB 1607 – Regulation of Hospitals
Author: Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary
ISMA Position: Neutral
This Week: The House Public Health Committee heard this bill on Monday, Jan.29. The committee approved the measure, and it will move to the House floor for consideration.
The ISMA remains neutral on this legislation at the current time, though some physicians are expressing concern regarding the measure.
The bill would not allow a licensed hospital to use the term “hospital” in its name or advertisements unless the facility is equipped, prepared and staffed to provide medical care for emergency patients. The bill does not inhibit licensure of hospitals that do not provide for emergency services.
Bill: HB 1378 – Insurance Coverage Exclusion for Intoxication
Author: Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon
ISMA Position: Support
This Week: The ISMA reported last week that this bill was held in committee so amendments could be drafted to ensure the bill would accomplish its goal. It was anticipated the bill would be heard on Jan. 31; however, the bill was not heard. HB 1378 is now posted for a hearing on Feb. 7, ISMA’s Medicine Day.
HB 1378 aims to prohibit insurers from excluding coverage for injuries the insured sustains while intoxicated. An insurer’s ability to deny coverage for injuries sustained by an intoxicated insured stems from a 1947 model law called the Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provisions Law (UPPL).
In 2001 the organization that proposed the 1947 model law recommended the exclusion for intoxication be repealed as it applies to health benefit plans.
Bill: SB 327 – HPV Vaccination for 6 th grade girls
Author: Sen. Connie Lawson, R-Danville
ISMA Position: Support
This week: SB 327 was heard Jan. 31 in the Health and Provider Services Committee. The ISMA testified in support of the bill. An amendment was adopted that changed the provision that allowed for a child or parent to opt-out of the vaccination to an opt-in provision.
This bill would have required female students entering grade 6 to be immunized against HPV beginning in the 2008-09 school year.
As amended, the bill now provides that parents or guardians will receive information on the vaccination and have the option of having the student receive it. The amended bill passed unanimously out of the committee and now moves on to the Senate floor for consideration.
Bill: SB 0010 – Repeal of Student Scoliosis Testing Requirement Author:
Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis
ISMA Position: Support
This week: SB 10 passed the Senate by a vote of 37-11 and will be considered in the House during the second half of session. Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, will sponsor the bill in the House.
This bill repeals the student scoliosis testing requirement in schools for students in the 5 th, 7 th and 9 th grades. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gave the screening test a D, the lowest grade.
Bill: HB 1241 – Physician Assistants Prescribing Authority Author:
Rep. Peggy Welch, D-BloomingtonISMA
Position: Oppose
This week: HB 1241 was heard Jan. 31 by the House Public Health Committee. The bill was amended in committee to include that a physician assistant must have obtained 30 contact hours in pharmacology and be employed by the physician for one year before prescriptive authority can be granted.
Two doctors testified in opposition on behalf of the ISMA. After hearing from both proponents and opponents of the bill, Chairman Brown declined to take a vote after concern was raised during testimony about the definition of “immediately present.”
This concern echoes the ISMA’s first principle to be included in any law authorizing physician-delegated prescribing authority for physician assistants. The ISMA will work with the bill’s author to define the term “immediately present.” The bill will be heard again at an upcoming committee hearing.
HB 1241 grants prescriptive authority to physicians assistants (PAs).
The ISMA opposes the bill; however, the ISMA’s 2006 House of Delegates passed a resolution stating if prescriptive authority were to be granted to PAs that we urge the following conditions to be part of the law:
PAs may prescribe only while a doctor is physically present.
Privileges for PA prescribing are delegated by a supervising physician.
PAs must obtain an adequate number of contact hours in pharmacology at an ARC-PA accredited school.
Prescriptions are limited to a 7-day supply of any scheduled drug with no refills.
Bill: HB 1349 – Legend Drug Prescriptions by Optometrists
Author: Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington
ISMA Position: Oppose
This week: HB 1349 was heard Jan. 29 in the House Public Health Committee. The ISMA opposed the bill. However, it passed out of committee 8-3 and now moves to the House floor for consideration.
This bill allows optometrists certified by the optometric board to administer, dispense and prescribe certain narcotic drugs, codeine with compounds, and hydrocodone with compounds.
Bill: SB 505 –Physician Medicaid Reimbursement Rates
Author: Sen. Patricia Miller, R-IndianapolisISMA
Position: Support
Requires the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning to increase physician reimbursement by 10 percent in 2007 and 10 percent in 2008 in Medicaid managed care programs, fee-for-service programs and demonstration projects.
Bill: SB 351 – Medical Review Panel
Author: Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford
ISMA Position: Support
This Week: The full Senate considered SB 351 and voted 46-3 in favor of the measure. The bill will now move to the House.
The bill, as amended, will require members of medical review panels to make two attempts to meet in person before the panel chairperson can allow a member to participate via telephone or videoconference.
Current law does not specifically allow a member of a medical review panel to participate in a panel meeting via telephone. While many physicians have participated on review panels on the telephone, the explicit allowance for such capability does not exist.
Bill: SB 503 – Healthier Indiana Insurance Program
Author: Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis
ISMA Position: Support
This Week: The Senate Health and Provider Services Committee held a special hearing dedicated solely to this bill. Many advocates in the health care industry testified.
ISMA President Vidya Kora, M.D., testified on behalf of the association. His testimony focused on four key points the ISMA Commission on Legislation and ISMA leadership developed regarding the uninsured:
Access to quality medical care for all Hoosiers
Administrative simplicity for patients and providers
Reasonable reimbursement to cover costs
Stable financing
The bill was not voted on this week in order for the committee to take into consideration all the testimony that was offered. The bill is expected to be voted on at next week’s hearing, which coincides with ISMA’s Medicine Day.
The bill includes provisions necessary to enact the structural provisions of the Governor’s Plan to cover the uninsured. The bill also makes funding changes to the Hospital Care for the Indigent program, the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Program, and the Medicaid indigent care trust fund.
Furthermore, the bill requires the Indiana Comprehensive Health Insurance Association to establish a new concept termed Health for High-risk Hoosiers.
Bill: HB 1547 – Health Care Certificate of Need
Author: Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville
ISMA Position: Oppose
This Week: The House Public Health Committee heard this bill on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Testimony in support of the bill came from the local county hospital in the bill author’s district. Also, testimony in support was offered by one large hospital chain and by an auto manufacturer concerned with rising health care costs.
The ISMA opposed the legislation, stressing that competition in the health care market is of utmost importance, especially when a tremendous amount of industry regulation exists at the federal and state levels. Also opposing the bill was the Indiana Hospital and Health Association, the Indiana Federation of Ambulatory Surgical Centers and the Indiana Academy of Ophthalmology.
Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, chairman of the House Public Health Committee, did not vote the bill at the request of the author, Rep. Foley, R-Martinsville.
The bill would require the Indiana State Department of Health to re-institute a certificate of need program for Indiana. Certificates of need would be required to build or expand any hospital, ambulatory surgery center or comprehensive care bed.
Bill: HB 1607 – Regulation of Hospitals
Author: Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary
ISMA Position: Neutral
This Week: The House Public Health Committee heard this bill on Monday, Jan.29. The committee approved the measure, and it will move to the House floor for consideration.
The ISMA remains neutral on this legislation at the current time, though some physicians are expressing concern regarding the measure.
The bill would not allow a licensed hospital to use the term “hospital” in its name or advertisements unless the facility is equipped, prepared and staffed to provide medical care for emergency patients. The bill does not inhibit licensure of hospitals that do not provide for emergency services.
Bill: HB 1378 – Insurance Coverage Exclusion for Intoxication
Author: Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon
ISMA Position: Support
This Week: The ISMA reported last week that this bill was held in committee so amendments could be drafted to ensure the bill would accomplish its goal. It was anticipated the bill would be heard on Jan. 31; however, the bill was not heard. HB 1378 is now posted for a hearing on Feb. 7, ISMA’s Medicine Day.
HB 1378 aims to prohibit insurers from excluding coverage for injuries the insured sustains while intoxicated. An insurer’s ability to deny coverage for injuries sustained by an intoxicated insured stems from a 1947 model law called the Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provisions Law (UPPL).
In 2001 the organization that proposed the 1947 model law recommended the exclusion for intoxication be repealed as it applies to health benefit plans.
Bill: SB 327 – HPV Vaccination for 6 th grade girls
Author: Sen. Connie Lawson, R-Danville
ISMA Position: Support
This week: SB 327 was heard Jan. 31 in the Health and Provider Services Committee. The ISMA testified in support of the bill. An amendment was adopted that changed the provision that allowed for a child or parent to opt-out of the vaccination to an opt-in provision.
This bill would have required female students entering grade 6 to be immunized against HPV beginning in the 2008-09 school year.
As amended, the bill now provides that parents or guardians will receive information on the vaccination and have the option of having the student receive it. The amended bill passed unanimously out of the committee and now moves on to the Senate floor for consideration.
Bill: SB 0010 – Repeal of Student Scoliosis Testing Requirement Author:
Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis
ISMA Position: Support
This week: SB 10 passed the Senate by a vote of 37-11 and will be considered in the House during the second half of session. Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, will sponsor the bill in the House.
This bill repeals the student scoliosis testing requirement in schools for students in the 5 th, 7 th and 9 th grades. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gave the screening test a D, the lowest grade.
Bill: HB 1241 – Physician Assistants Prescribing Authority Author:
Rep. Peggy Welch, D-BloomingtonISMA
Position: Oppose
This week: HB 1241 was heard Jan. 31 by the House Public Health Committee. The bill was amended in committee to include that a physician assistant must have obtained 30 contact hours in pharmacology and be employed by the physician for one year before prescriptive authority can be granted.
Two doctors testified in opposition on behalf of the ISMA. After hearing from both proponents and opponents of the bill, Chairman Brown declined to take a vote after concern was raised during testimony about the definition of “immediately present.”
This concern echoes the ISMA’s first principle to be included in any law authorizing physician-delegated prescribing authority for physician assistants. The ISMA will work with the bill’s author to define the term “immediately present.” The bill will be heard again at an upcoming committee hearing.
HB 1241 grants prescriptive authority to physicians assistants (PAs).
The ISMA opposes the bill; however, the ISMA’s 2006 House of Delegates passed a resolution stating if prescriptive authority were to be granted to PAs that we urge the following conditions to be part of the law:
PAs may prescribe only while a doctor is physically present.
Privileges for PA prescribing are delegated by a supervising physician.
PAs must obtain an adequate number of contact hours in pharmacology at an ARC-PA accredited school.
Prescriptions are limited to a 7-day supply of any scheduled drug with no refills.
Bill: HB 1349 – Legend Drug Prescriptions by Optometrists
Author: Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington
ISMA Position: Oppose
This week: HB 1349 was heard Jan. 29 in the House Public Health Committee. The ISMA opposed the bill. However, it passed out of committee 8-3 and now moves to the House floor for consideration.
This bill allows optometrists certified by the optometric board to administer, dispense and prescribe certain narcotic drugs, codeine with compounds, and hydrocodone with compounds.
Bill: SB 505 –Physician Medicaid Reimbursement Rates
Author: Sen. Patricia Miller, R-IndianapolisISMA
Position: Support
Requires the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning to increase physician reimbursement by 10 percent in 2007 and 10 percent in 2008 in Medicaid managed care programs, fee-for-service programs and demonstration projects.
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