Page 34 - OPTA Access Spring 2021

LEGISLATIVE AND PAYMENT POLICY UPDATES
Legislative Report
Amanda Sines – OPTA Lobbyist Government Advantage Group
PT Compact Bill Reintroduced!
Senators Kristina Roegner (R – Hudson) and Bill Blessing (R – Colerain Township) have reintroduced legislation to enter Ohio into the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. The bill this year is Senate Bill 5. The OPTA looks forward to continuing our support of this legislation. Since the Senate unanimously passed the legislation
last year, we would expect them to take swift and favorable action in 2021. We appreciate the bill sponsors’ dedication to getting the legislation passed!
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Additionally, Senator Roegner has also introduced SB 7 to enter Ohio into the occupational therapy compact.
133RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMES TO AN END
Because of the COVID-19 shutdowns and pandemic, legislators left many bills unfinished as they closed out the 133rd General Assembly. Any bills not passed and enacted by the end of 2020 will need to be reintroduced. Much of the final days of the year focused on House and Senate disagreements over what to do about House Bill 6, controversial legislation that is the center of the Householder scandal and arrest. There were also disagreements over how to handle possible overrides of Governor vetoes and controversial legislation such as “stand your ground” that dominated the final days of 2020.
Below is a summary of the final status of bills of interest to OPTA:
SB 272 – PT COMPACT LEGISLATION – This
bill was very close to being sent to the Governor.
It unanimously passed the Ohio Senate in May
2020 and earned unanimous passage by the House Health Committee in early December 2020. However, it failed to get an official vote on the House floor before their final adjournment.
HB 547– FAIR CO-PAY LEGISLATION –This OPTA supported bill had four hearings in the House Insurance Committee. Because of opposition from businesses groups, the bill did not receive a vote in that committee. We hope to pursue this bill again in the 134th General Assembly.
HB 484 – ATHLETIC TRAINERS SCOPE OF PRACTICE – This OPTA-opposed legislation passed the Ohio House in June 2020. It did not receive
any hearings or attention in the Senate. Since both sponsors of this bill (Reps. Carfagna and Abrams) are now in House leadership, this proposal is expected to be reintroduced with new sponsors.
HB 606 – COVID-19 LIABILITY PROTECTIONS – This legislation has been passed and signed by the Governor. It provides general liability protections
for COVID-19 exposure and transmissions. The protections are in effect through September 30, 2021.
HB 374 AND SB 105 – Massage Therapy – After
an amendment was accepted addressing OPTA comments regarding scope of practice, we lent our support to this legislation. The intent is to close a loophole used by human traffickers and make sure massage established are legitimate and safe. Neither of these bills were enacted in 2020, so we would expect them to be reintroduced.
TELEHEALTH – There were several bills introduced in the wake of COVID to increase access to telehealth. The Ohio Department of Medicaid made permanent
a rule increasing what providers are able to utilize telehealth with their patients. This was supported by OPTA. OPTA also supported legislation to increase
the availability through private insurance. Those bills were not enacted but are expected to be reintroduced in 2021.
BWC – OPTA continually advocated to the BWC on a variety of issues from the creation of a unique code for functional capacity evaluations, to telehealth, to recognizing PTs as physicians of record. This work will continue throughout 2021.
For more information, contact Amanda at:
amanda@gov-advantage.com