Page 10 - OPTA Access September 2017 Volume 45, Issue 2

Legislative & Payment Policy Report
Legislative Report: Updates & Insights
Amanda Sines and Mikayla Pollitt – Government Advantage Group
The Ohio legislature has wrapped up its work on the biennial budget bill, House Bill 49 This process began in February 2017 with Governor Kasich unveiling his version
of the bill The House followed process and subsequently released their version of the bill in May 2017 The budget was then considered by the Senate which passed their version in June 2017. A conference committee was appointed to iron out the difference between each version and accept a nal conference report The conference report was passed by both the House and Senate on June 28, 2017.
The Governor had until midnight on June 30, 2017 to issue his line item vetoes and sign a nal version of the budget to be enacted for the next two state scal years. Before signing the bill, Kasich vetoed 47 provisions included in the bill sent
to his desk. Most notable was a provision to freeze Medicaid coverage for Group VIII (the expanded population)
Among the 5023-page nal document, there are many provisions of interest to the OPTA
• Board Consolidation – The budget process was a
roller coaster for this issue The Governor had proposed
a consolidation of the Occupational Therapy Physical Therapy Athletic Trainers (OTPTAT) Board with the Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Pedorthics (OPP) Board into
a newly formed State Physical Health Services Board Under the as-introduced proposal, Physical Therapists would have only been guaranteed one seat on the new board. OPTA worked with many other effected professional associations to oppose this proposal, as many other boards were proposed to be consolidation Executive Director Victoria Gresh of the OPTA provided formal public testimony against the proposal
The House of Representatives removed the OTPTAT Board consolidation from their version of the bill Additionally, they proposed eliminating licensure for
the OPP professionals completely Several other consolidations were removed from the House version, but some remained
When the Senate unveiled their substitute bill, we were surprised to see the Governor’s version of the OTPTAT Board consolidation reinstated OPTA was able to mobilize quickly. Calls-to-Action were issued, and Victoria gave additional formal testimony According to Senate members, the consolidation was re-added because the Senate did not want to deregulate the practice of the OPPs OPTA was able to work with members of the Senate and other interested parties to craft a compromise Instead of
the Governor’s consolidation proposal, we suggested keeping the OTPTAT Board structure intact, and creating an Advisory Committee for the orthotic, prosthetic, and pedorthic professionals This proposal was adopted by the Senate in their omnibus amendment
When the conference committee met, they adopted the Senate version of the proposal
• Price Transparency – The Governor’s version of the bill repealed language in the Ohio Revised Code requiring providers to give an estimate of cost to patients before performing any non-emergency services This issue is being challenged in the courts The House originally had replaced the language in their substitute bill However,
in their omnibus amendment, they restored current law The Senate did not make any changes. We had hoped a compromise could have been reached on this issue
• Taxes – The Governor had proposed a series of tax increases to allow for additional income tax cuts However, those proposals were striped from the House version and not revisited in the Senate
• Medicaid – The Governor has been a vocal supporter of Medicaid expansion both at the state and federal level In the nal version of the bill is a freeze on Medicaid eligibility for the Group VIII population (expanded population), effective July 1, 2018. The bill also created restrictions
on the Group VII population stating that in order to qualify participates must stratify at least one these requirements: 1) Be at least 55 years old; 2) be employed; 3) be enrolled in school or an occupational training program; 4) be participating in an alcohol or drug recovery program; or
5) have intensive healthcare needs or a serious mental illness Additionally, the budget proposes assessing premiums of up to $20 per month for some Medicaid recipients (These provisions are still in limbo has the legislature considers possible veto overrides )
• Opiate Epidemic – While revenues continued in come in under estimates, the legislature was charged with reducing expenditure by roughly $1 billion Both chambers indicated an unwillingness to increase revenue, by way of taxes While many agencies and programs saw reductions in their budget, both chambers made investing in the state’s opiate epidemic a priority The legislature added roughly $176 million to programs that target workforce, prevention, treatment and mental health services
ptember 2017 | OPTA
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Legislative & Payment Policy Report