Legislative Update (2011-2012 Legislative Session) September 5, 2012 Advocacy, CMA AB 2109, AB 589, Healthy Families, Legislative Update, 2011-2012 Legislative Session 0 The Legislative Session officially ended early Saturday morning and SFMS/CMA’s Government Relations team was at the Capitol until the very end. In the waning hours of the 2011-2012 Legislative Session, we successfully passed three sponsored bills, killed two bills that would have weakened the protections of MICRA, negotiated key amendments into the Worker’s Compensation bill, and proudly fought to reinstate the Healthy Families program as part of a multi-part deal that died sometime after 1:00 am. Below are highlights of the week: SFMS/CMA Sponsored Bills AB 589 (Perea) creates the Steve Thompson Scholarship Program for Medical School. Mirroring the Loan Repayment Program, AB 589 will provide up to $105,000 in scholarships to selected participants who agree, in writing, prior to completing medical school based in the United States to serve in a medically underserved setting. Status: On the governor’s desk AB 2109 (Pan) will require a parent or guardian seeking a personal belief exemption for their child to obtain a document signed by themselves and a licensed health care practitioner. Status: On the governor’s desk SB 1318 (Wolk) will require health facilities to institute measures to help prevent the spread of the influenza virus to patents. Status: On the governor’s desk Major Opposed Bills SB 1528 (Steinberg) was amended the last week of session, and although the sponsors claimed the bill did not affect MICRA, it would have raised ambiguity about what could be sought in malpractice settlements. The provider community strongly opposed the bill, ultimately killing it on the Assembly Floor with an astounding vote count of 13-43. AB 1062 (Dickinson) was also amended in the last week of session, gutting a bill that previously dealt with social services and replacing it with a Simitian bill from last year that would have lowered the standard of evidence in elder abuse cases. The bill ultimately failed on the Senate Floor 16-22. Other Bills of Interest SB 924 (Steinberg/Price) would have fixed the ambiguity in law as to whether or not medical corporations can legally employ physical therapists. But the bill would have also allowed patients to directly access physical therapy treatment for 30 business days, at which time a physician would have to sign off on a physical therapy treatment plan. CMA had an official “Oppose Unless Amended” position on the bill, asking for amendments that would have required a medical diagnosis after 30 business days of direct treatment by a physical therapist. The bill was quickly sent to Assembly Rules Committee where it stayed until its demise when session ended. SB 301/AB 826 were the two bills CMA sponsored with a bi-partisan coalition of legislators in an end-of-session attempt to restore the Healthy Families program. All week, meetings, discussions and negotiations took place about how to restore the tax on Managed Care Organizations (MCO) and bring needed funding into the state, while simultaneously attempting to reinstate the program the tax was intended to fund. Republicans insisted they would not put up the 2/3 votes necessary to pass a tax unless Healthy Families was reinstated. In an attempt to gain the support of CMA and the health plans to secure the necessary Republican votes to extend the MCO tax, varying proposals were offered that would have given additional funding to health plans and providers in lieu of reinstating Healthy Families. As Friday approached, Healthy Families was eventually folded into negotiations on another tax bill, AB 1500. This so-called “mega-deal” would have created new corporate taxes to fund middle-class college scholarships, added a timber tax, earmarked some of the dollars to pay off K-12 school debts and revived the Healthy Families program. The bill also excluded certain corporations. With concerns from both conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats, the deal ultimately fell apart early Saturday morning. Comments are closed.
