INA Priority Introduced

INA’s priority legislative request was introduced this week as House Study Bill 59. It was assigned to a House Judiciary subcommittee of Betty Grundberg (R-Des Moines), Dan Boddicker (R-Tipton) and Delores Mertz (D-Ottosen). Numerous discussions were held with legislators about the need for the bill. The Iowa Medical Society offered amendments that "requested notice of the death to a physician and in accordance with the directions of a physician". With the Board of Nursing, INA explained that reporting by RNs is already included in the practice act and did not need to be included in the Code language.

INA is in continued discussion with Rep. Grundberg, the Iowa Medical Society, and the Iowa Academy of Family Practice Physicians. There is a sense of physicians trying to put excessive restrictions and unenforceable language into the Nurse Practice Act. INA’s particular concern is the part of the phrase "and in accordance with the directions of the physician". The response INA gives is: 1) If there are three physicians, which one needs the report back , 2) many of the physician orders are verbal, not written in physician notes and 3) this is excessive overregulation. These situations create a problem for the Board of Nursing to track down a physician to ask what their intent was should there be a disciplinary hearing. The Nurse Practice Act (Iowa Code Chapter 152.1(6)(b) directs the registered nurse to carry out the regimen as prescribed by the physician and the Board of Nursing administrative rules (655-Chapter 6.2(5)(e) specifies that an RN or LPN report back to the physician. The position is that the language requested by the medical societies is redundant, unnecessary and burdensome to the Board of Nursing.

Please contact your legislator! Express your support for the bill without the repetitive reference of notice to the physician and in accordance with the directions of the physician. Tell your own story to your state representative today! (see below for instructions on how to make contact.)

Vilsack says Legislature to Raise Wages in Iowa

At his press conference this morning, Governor Vilsack said that the Legislature should raise the minimum wage and create a living wage threshold for Iowans. He said that Iowa would continue to have problems in keeping or attracting a quality workforce as long as the wages paid in the state are low. Vilsack said that he would consider the legislation regarding right-to-work statements if the Legislature is willing to raise the minimum wage.

Vilsack said that the average wages in Iowa are less than wages paid in states without right-to-work laws. Vilsack’s is for increasing the state minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.15 an hour over the next two years. Vilsack’s proposal also requires employers receiving economic development assistance from the state must pay at least $8.20 an hour, which he says is the wage needed for a family of four with one wage-earner to live above the federal poverty level.

Senator Iverson said that he is afraid that raising the minimum wage would be anti-competitive. Iverson said that he believes that the state right-to-work laws help attract business to Iowa and that the state should continue to promote its right-to-work status. Senator Kramer said that the Republicans are not willing to compromise on policy issues like the right-to-work statements.

Speaker Siegrist said that the Republicans are still working on budget targets and that the Governor may need to make the decision about the sales tax suspension before the targets are ready. He also said that the Legislature would like to delay a decision on allowable growth by thirty days in order to see if the state revenues improve. Siegrist said that would the Legislature to go with a higher allowable growth rate.

During the floor debate this week, Rep. Millage told the House that the state revenue projections could fall as much as $140 million below previous projections because state revenues are only up 0.7% compared to the revenue estimate of 3.5%. The slowdown in the economy has already delayed the Republican plans to move the social security tax cut bills early this week (SF 20, out of committee, and HF 2).

No bills introduced yet.

Attend local town hall meetings on Saturdays as scheduled.

Phone Numbers for leaving a message:

Governor’s Office 515/281-5211

Iowa House of Representatives at 515/281-3221

Iowa Senate at 515/281-3371

Website Contacts for sending emails or regular letters:

BILLS IN COMMITTEE OF INTEREST TO NURSING

Use the website address above to find 1) the bill language and 2) the email address for the legislators listed below. Legislators serving on the following subcommittees are the individuals to whom comments should be initially made. Legislators give first priority to those living in their House or Senate District. Make sure the legislator knows you are a registered nurse.

HF 67 HEALTHY AND WELL KIDS - Hansen (C), Johnson, Osterhaus

HF 72 SUBSTANCE ABUSE COVERAGE - Johnson (C), Osterhaus, Schrader, Shey, Van Fossen

HF 116 PREGNANCY ENDING REPORTS - Carroll (C), Hoversten, Kreiman

HF 122 EMPLOYEE INJURY CARE - Dolecheck, Grundberg, Murphy

HF 123 INVOLUNTARY DISCHARGES - Millage (C), D. Taylor, Barry

HF 124 MINIMUM WAGE - Metcalf (C), Hoffman, T. Taylor

HF 125 TEMPORARY WORKERS - Dolecheck (C), Raecker, Winckler

SF 49 BRACHIAL INJURY DATA BASE Tinsman (C), Behn, Dvorsky

SF 23 CIVIL COMMITMENT OF PREGNANT DRUG USERS - Expands definition of "chronic substance abuser" to include pregnant women who use chemical substances that may harm the fetus. Requires political subdivisions to comply regardless of whether this is an unfunded mandate. PASSED, 7-6 (See SF 100)

SSB 1020 RESOURCE CENTER--MHI ACCOUNTING - Transfers the billing and accounting for state resource centers (the hospital schools) and the mental health institutes to DHS from the Department of Revenue & Finance. PASSED, 13-0 (See SF 99)

BILLS INTRODUCED OF INTEREST TO NURSING

Resolutions

HR 7 and SR 5 Recognizing the achievements of Dr. Nancy Coover Andreasen in receiving the President’s National Medal of Honor of Science for integrative work on mind, brain and behavior.

HSB 27 DRUGS AND CHILD ABUSE (Human Resources) Establishes that if a controlled substance is in the presence or home of a child then the child in need of assistance provisions apply. (AG)
Boddicker (C), Carroll, Tremmel

HSB 49 HAWK-I PROGRAM (Commerce) Abolishes the requirement that the Department of Human Services establish a sliding fee scale for HAWK-I. Allows HAWK-I Board to establish cost sharing amounts. Requires periodic random reviews of enrollee applications. Eliminates the outreach media campaign requirements. Directs administrative contractor to forward names of children that appear to be eligible for heath insurance coverage to local DHS office. Eliminates the requirement that the administrative contractor make applications available via mail, schools, local health departments, and local DHS offices. Allows for cost-sharing based on family income levels at or below 150% federal poverty level. (DHS) Hansen (C), Johnson, Osterhaus

HSB 53 FIP DRUG TESTING (Human Resources) Requires FIP applicants to undergo drug testing and FIP participants to be subject to random drug testing. Makes a person who tests positive ineligible until that individual tests negative. Prohibits the use of test results in criminal actions. Requires the DHS to establish rules to implement drug testing. Carroll (C), Bradley, Kreiman

HSB 54 BOARD OF PHARMACY EXEMPTION (Human Resources) Exempts health care providers, hospitals, and health care facilities from obtaining a separate Iowa Controlled Substances Registration upon providing the Board of Pharmacy Examiners with a registration from the U.S. D.E.A. Hoversten (C), Roberts, Reynolds

HSB 59 DEATH PRONOUNCEMENT (Judiciary) Allows a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse to declare someone dead if occurring in a hospital, health care facility, a Medicare-certified home health agency, Medicare hospice program. Grundberg (C), Boddicker, Mertz

HSB 67 DOMESTIC ABUSE (Judiciary) Defines persons who have had an intimate relationship in the prior year for domestic abuse and protection purposes. (AG) Shey (C), Baudler, Kreiman

HSB 73 ABUSE REPORTER TRAINING (Human Resources) Requires training for mandatory reporters of child and dependent adult abuse. Requires licensing boards to training procedures for mandatory reporters. Hoversten, (C), Boddicker, Smith

HSB 79 PHYSICIAN PATIENT PRIVILEGE (Judiciary) Allows medical professionals to disclose information when it relates to a homicide or related crime. (AG) Boddicker (C), Barry, Shoultz

HF 104 CHILD ENDANGERMENT (Judiciary; Successor to HSB 4) Includes all the persons in a child’s household in the definition of the people who can be found guilty of committing child endangerment. Makes child endangerment that does not result in bodily injury or serious injury an aggravated misdemeanor. (Calendar)

HF 107 NEUROBIOLOGICAL DISORDER COVERAGE (Grundberg) Coverage: Requires policies for third-party payment of medical expenses to include coverage neurobiological disorders for employers who employ more than 50 employees for half the work year; for policies that are issued to small businesses and the policy provides for mental illness coverage or the policy is for public employees. Definitions: Defines neurobiological disorders as schizophrenic, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, developmental disorders and attention deficit disorders. Contains related provisions. Substance Abuse Study: Requires the Insurance Division to study the impact of providing substance abuse coverage. (Commerce & Regulation)

HF 122 EMPLOYEE INJURY CARE (Taylor, et al) Gives an employee the right to choose the care of an injury compensable under worker’s comp at the employer’s expense if the employer is notified about the choice. Gives the employer the right to challenge this choice. (Labor)

HF 123 INVOLUNTARY DISCHARGES (Taylor) Gives an employee at will the right to seek judicial review over an involuntary discharge. (Labor)

HF 124 MINIMUM WAGE (Taylor, et al) Requires employers to pay 50 cents more than the federal minimum wage in FY 2003 and indexes the minimum wage to Midwest consumer price index for FY 2004 and later. (Labor)

HF 125 TEMORARY WORKERS (Taylor, et al) Prohibits state economic development assistance from being paid to an employer which has hired permanent replacement workers during a strike the last ten years. (Labor)

HF 126 UNION ORGANIZING (Taylor) Prohibits private and public employers from using funds from the state to influence attempts by employees to form a union. Prohibits employers who conduct business on state property from holding meetings on state property to influence employees about unionization. (Labor)

HF 110 MEDICAL RECORDS (Richardson, et al.) Creates new code section for medical information. Establishes medical information in medical records is the property of the patient. Allows patient to have a copy of medical records for a reasonable fee. Prohibits release of medical information for marketing or sales purposes without the prior written consent of the patient. (Commerce)

HF 113 NEUROBIOLOGICAL COVERAGE (Grundberg) Requires that neurobiological disorders and substance abuse be covered under health insurance plans for state employees. Defines neurobiological disorders and substance abuse. Effective January 1, 2002. (Commerce)

HF 116 PREGNANCY TERMINATION REPORTING (Johnson & Alons) Requires health care providers to report spontaneous and induced abortions, along with estimated gestation age, and the county in which the patient resides. (Human Resources)

HF 149 UNAUTHORIZED PATIENT DISCHARGE (Connors, et al.) Makes an unfair practice for an insurance company to communicate to a covered individual that the individual must be discharged from a hospital by a certain time or date that is prior to the written consent of the health care provider. Allows for cease and desist orders, a $10,000 penalty, and suspension or revocation of applicable licenses. (Commerce)

HF 152 DOMESTIC ABUSE INSURANCE CLAIMS (Jochum, et al.) Requires insurance companies to pay claims resulting from domestic abuse. (Commerce)

HF 153 NEUROBIOLOGICAL COVERAGE (Grundberg) Requires third-party payment of neurobiological disorders and substance abuse for covered children under 19 years of age. (Commerce)

HF 155 STATE MINIMUM WAGE (Jochum, et al.) Increases the minimum wage to $6.50 on January 1, 2002. Allows the Department of Workforce Development to set the minimum wage at 150% of the federal poverty level beginning January 1, 2004. (Labor)

SSB 1050 INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP ABUSE (Judiciary) Establishes protection for individuals in intimate relationships under the domestic abuse laws. (AG)
Tinsman (C), Horn, King

SSB 1051 MEDICAL INFORMATION DISCLOSURE (Judiciary) Allows medical professionals to disclose privileged information when the information is related to a murder. (AG)
Angelo (C), Holveck, McKean

SSB 1066 BIKE HELMETS (Judiciary) Requires children under 14 to wear a helmet when riding a bike and requires anyone renting bikes to have helmets available for rent..
Maddox (C), Tinsman, Holveck

SSB 1070 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE REGISTRATIONS (Human Resources) Allows health care providers, hospitals and care facilities with a controlled substance registration from the federal Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration to give proof of that registration to the Board of Pharmacy Examiners, rather than obtain an Iowa registration. Behn (C), Dvorsky, Redwine

SSB 1072 CHILD ENDANGERMENT (Judiciary) Makes it child endangerment to intentionally cause bodily or serious injury, intentionally point a gun or display a weapon, commit a forcible felony, intentionally, maliciously or recklessly cause the death of a person or attempt murder in the presence of a child. (Attorney General)

Miller (C), Hansen, Boettger

SSB 1075 COUNTY HOSPITAL TAX LEVY (Ways & Means) Increases the maximum property tax levy for the county hospital fund in Polk County to $2.05 per $1,000 in assessed value. McKibben (C), Maddox, Harper

SF 69 WORK BREAKS (Hammond, et al) Requires an employer to give a paid fifteen minute break for every four hours worked and a paid thirty-minute lunch for every eight hours worked. Prohibits the inclusion of these provisions in bargaining for a collective bargaining agreement. Establishes civil penalties for non-compliance and makes repeated non-compliance a misdemeanor.

SF 78 FETAL DEATH CERTIFICATE (Lundby) Establishes procedures for filing for a certificate of birth for a fetus which is designated as a fetal death. (Human Resources)

SF 85 CHILD ABUSE - LEGISLATOR ACCESS (King) Requires DHS to disclose complete case specific child abuse information to a legislator on request. (Human Resources)

SF 100 CIVIL COMMITMENT OF PREGNANT DRUG USERS (Human Resources; Successor to SF 23) Expands definition of "chronic substance abuser" to include pregnant women who use chemical substances that may harm the fetus. Requires political subdivisions to comply regardless of whether this is an unfunded mandate. (Calendar)

return to 2001 legislative connection

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