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LEGISLATIVE CONNECTION Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Day is January 28 On Wednesday, January 28 organizations in support of passage of mental health and substance abuse coverage will converge on the Capitol at 8:30 am to be up in the House and Senate Galleries for comments from legislators on the need for passage. Tables will also be set up to distribute information from the various supporting organizations. INA Legislative and Policy Education Day February 12 Register today for the Nurses Day at the Capitol. Go to www.iowanurses.org or call the office at 515/225-0495. Regular registrations accepted until January 31. Continuing education credits will be awarded. Iowa Medicaid Program to Seek Bids for Billing and Data Collection Support The Iowa Department of Human Services is in the process of seeking bids on the data collection and billing systems for the Iowa Medicaid program. Legislators have been briefed on the federal requirement to seek new bids for the work to be done. The difference is that all the work currently being performed by ACS/Consultec will be broken into nine components: 1) Core Medicaid Management Information System, 2) Pharmacy Point-of-sale processing, 3) Data Warehouse/Decision Support, 4) Medical Services, 5) Provider Services, 6) Member Services, 7) Revenue Collection, 8) Claims Analysis/Provider Profiling/Case Reviews and Audits, and 9) Provider Audits and Rate Setting. If you have had payment problems with Medicaid in the past, it is important to contact your legislators and express your concerns. Regional CMS Officials Meet with Legislators Regional CMS Officials met with the Senate Human Resources committee this week to discuss concerns of legislators. Of particular concern was the intent to not allow for maximization of federal funds into Iowa. Concern was expressed as to the impact this would have on a Medicaid budget with significant financial shortfalls. Access Legislative Information on the Internet Find current legislation, bill history, publications, meeting calendars, legislator information, legislative committees, Iowa laws, legislative agencies, educational information, Capitol virtual tour and more by going to the legislative web site: www.legis.state.ia.us. The INA Legislative Connection will give you the bill numbers, legislator names and committee names to assist you in locating information more quickly. INA Legislative Agenda and Bills of Interest to Nursing in 2004
THE WEEK IN REVIEW Legislators met for only three days this week, due to the MLK Holiday and the Iowa Caucuses. The Governor's Budget Some of the highlights from Governor Vilsack's budget include:
· Total Spending
· New/Additional Revenue Sources
· Transfers
· Significant Increases for FY 2005
· Significant Decreases
· $300 million in Bonding With Senator Mary Kramer having left the Senate to become the Ambassador of Barbados, the Governor has set the special election for Tuesday, February 3. Democrats selected Alicia Claypool, who works with the Interfaith Alliance, as their candidate for the open Senate seat. Republicans selected Senate Republican caucus staff director Pat Ward.
The Spending Limitation Level Speaker Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City) said that the approval of the 98% limitation law is necessary due to estimating errors by the REC over the last several years. Rants said that the REC estimates have been off by more than 1% over the last three years, and said that the 98% limit would leave a larger ending balance for the Governor to use when dealing with revenue shortfalls Senate President Jeff Lamberti (R-Ankeny) said that the 98% spending level leaves enough margin so that the state avoid across-the-board cuts late in the budget year if revenues come in lower than expected. He said that efforts to improve the REC process to justify a 99% level could cost millions and give the REC only marginally better information. The Democratic leaders, Senator Gronstal and Rep. Pat Murphy (Dubuque) said that they opposed the change because they are afraid it will lead to cuts in property tax credits and higher property taxes. They said that the state has already shifted $240 million in costs back to property tax payers, and that the lower spending level could lead to a shift of another $120 million. Gronstal said that the state needs to spend money on education rather than put more money into the reserve funds. He said that the Legislature should look at increasing the allowable growth rate to 6%, using money from the reserve funds for schools this year and funding some of the other commitments through bonding. COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS These are the bills currently in committee. Bills assigned this week are marked New. Names in bold are Republican legislators. House Files (HF) and Senate Files (SF) are bills with three digit numbers were introduced last year; those starting at 2000 were introduced this year. House Study Bills (HSB) with a number greater than 500 and Senate Study Bills (SSB) greater than 3000 were introduced this year.
House Appropriations Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee
House Commerce & Labor Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee:
House Economic Development Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee
House Human Resources Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee:
House State Government Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee:
Senate Appropriations Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee:
Senate Government Oversight Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee:
Senate Human Resources: Assigned to Subcommittee
Senate Local Government Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee:
Senate Ways & Means Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee: INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS These are the bills and resolutions introduced this week; refer to previous Legislative Connections for previous introductions
House Resolutions:
House Files HF 2036 FETUS GUARDIAN AD LITEM (Alons, et al.) Requires an adult woman seeking an abortion to have a district court appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the rights of the fetus. Requires the court to balance the woman's rights versus carrying the pregnancy to term in determining whether to grant permission to the woman to seek an abortion. Sets time tables and other procedures. HF 2042 BLOOD DONATIONS (Whitaker, et al) Allows a minor to donate blood at the age of 16 if the minor has permission from a parent or guardian. HF 2043 CHILD CARE EXEMPTION (Carroll) Exempts purchases by a non-profit, licensed child care center from the sales tax. HF 2045 BIRTH DEFECT REGISTRY (Murphy, et al) Creates a standing appropriation for the Birth Defects Institute Central Registry. Raises birth certificate costs by $5 until the end of FY 2005 for the appropriation, and by $10 thereafter. HF 2074 BIRTH DEFECTS INSTITUTE (Petersen, et al) Renames the Birth Defects Institute to the Center for Congenital and Inherited Disorders. Expands the scope of study of the institute to all the cause and prevention of all birth disorders, including stillbirths. Makes the identifiable information collected by either the DPH or the Center confidential. House Study Bills HSB 521 HUMAN SERVICES TECHNICAL CHANGES - Makes various technical changes to code language related to the Department of Human Services. (from the DHS) HSB 527 ETHICS RULES - Adds Ethics Board employees to the list prohibited selling or services to persons or other entities subject regulatory authority of the Board. Allows for exceptions. Eliminates the difference between informal and formal Ethic Board opinions making them all Board Advisory Opinions. Requires annual review of who should be required to file a disclosure statement. (from the Ethics Board) HSB 528 HEALTH INSURANCE SERVICE CHARGE - Allows for the collection of a maximum $2 per month administrative service charge on all health insurance plans administered by DIA from retired state employees. (from the DIA) HSB 534 SENIOR LIVING TRUST - Transfers $13.5 million to the salary adjustment fund, and transfers the money from there into the Senior Living Trust Fund, in FY 2004. HSB 535 ECONOMIC IMPACT OF RULES - Requires public agencies analyze for every proposed rule the actual economic impact on the regulated public the agency itself. INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS These are the bills and resolutions introduced this week; refer to previous Legislative Connections for previous introductions Senate Files SF 2016 PRESCRIPTION DRUG ASSISTANCE (Johnson) Requires the Insurance Commissioner to create a program assisting individuals in accessing programs from drug manufacturers that offer free or discounted drugs. Requires the Insurance Commissioner to notify pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers about the program, to make reports on the program, and to take other related steps. Appropriates $100,000 for the program if federal funds are not available. SF 2017 HOME MODIFICATION GRANTS (Warnstadt, et al) Establishes a home modification grant program in Veteran's Affairs for vets with a service related permanent disability. Appropriates $50,000 for the program. SF 2029 CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS (Johnson) Requires that children under the age of 6 to be secured in restraint systems in vehicles, and for children under the age of 1 and under 20 pounds to be secured in rear facing systems. Requires that children between the ages of 6 and 14 use a seat belt or be in a restraint system. Requires that only warning tickets be issued in the first year and that the fine be $25 after that. Senate Study Bills SSB 3007 INSURANCE PROVIDER COVERAGE - Requires that health and accident insurance policies pay chiropractors, optometrists and podiatric physicians at the same levels as M.D.s and osteopaths, for equivalent services. Requires that chiropractors, optometrists and podiatric physicians be accepted as providers for policies that pay for services to M.D.s and osteopaths. Contains other provisions. SSB 3008 INFORMED CONSENT - Requires doctors to give specific information to a woman, before performing an abortion, and requires the woman to acknowledge receipt of the information before an abortion can be performed. Contains alternative procedures for medical emergencies. Requires the DPH to make such information available on the web. SSB 3009 FETICIDE OFFENSES - Expands the offense of feticide, a Class "C" felony, to include acts, during any time of the pregnancy, that result in the death of the fetus if intended to cause death or great harm, or should have known that the acts committed would do so, or if done doing the commission of a forcible felony, or done with depraved indifference. Establishes a voluntary manslaughter offense, a Class "C" felony, for fetal deaths from acts that result from a sudden and violent passion, from acts committed during a violent misdemeanor offense, or if the actor was coerced under certain conditions. Strikes the offense of attempted feticide. Changes references of "terminating a human pregnancy" to "killing an unborn child". Contains other provisions. SSB 3010 MANDATORY ABUSE REPORTERS - Includes members of the clergy as mandatory reporters. Raises the age of a child for whom mandatory reporters must make a report on child abuse from 12 to 16. (This bill is comparable to HF 206, vetoed last year by Governor Vilsack. That bill is still eligible to be considered for a veto override, but legislators rarely take up bills for a veto override.) SSB 3011 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT PAYMENTS - Approves physician assistants as providers of health care services, including primary care, for managed care contracts under Medicaid. © 2008 The American Nurses Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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