Central PA Medicine - Summer 2017 - 18

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Pennsylvania Medical Society
Quarterly Legislative Update
June 2017

s June arrives in Harrisburg, con- would also allow CNPs to be eligible to practice
versations over the 2017-2018 state without a collaborative or written agreement,
budget are well underway. Governor including being able to prescribe medications
Tom Wolf kicked off the process under their scope of practice. SB 25 was voted
with his budget address in February that outlined out of the Senate Consumer Protection and
$32.2 billion in spending, including pledges Professional Licensure Committee on April
for increased investments in education, seniors, 18, 2017. It was subsequently passed in the
and substance abuse services, while avoiding Senate on April 26, 2017 (39-10).
new broad-based tax increases. The Governor's
budget offsets these increased investments by
In addition to government relations staff
proposing a savings of $2 billion through waste working with legislators from both the House
cutting and government efficiency measures. and Senate to impress upon them the importance of physician-led teams working with
In response, in April, the Republican-ma- patients, PAMED also generated a call-tojority House passed its budget bill by a strong action targeted to physicians from the Senate
party line vote (114-84) that proposes $31.5 committee members' districts in the days leading
billion in spending. The $815 million gap up to the vote.
between the two plans is the closest Governor
Wolf and the GOP legislature have had at this
Despite the final vote count, consideration of
point in the process. More work still needs to the bill, and more specifically, internal caucus
be done, but for now, it seems realistic that discussions, generated a robust exchange
the Governor and the General Assembly could between senators who vehemently oppose the
agree to a spending plan by the June 30, 2017 measure and those who favor its passage. While
constitutional deadline.
a number of senators voiced serious concern
about scheduling the bill for consideration,
Beyond the budget, the General Assembly Senator Kim Ward's was the loudest as she made
has taken action on several bills of interest to a significant attempt to amend the legislation
PAMED already this year. Below is an update to more narrowly define those specialty areas
on that activity.
in which CNPs could practice. Ultimately, her
amendment was not offered but her efforts genSB 25 - CRNP Independent Practice
erated productive conversations. Unfortunately,
(Introduced by Senator Bartolotta)
those discussions did not significantly move
the needle but did positively affect some votes.
This legislation would, among other things,
eliminate the requirement that the State Board of
The legislation will now move to the House
Medicine or Osteopathic Medicine approve the Professional Licensure Committee chaired by
combined practice of CNPs with physicians. It Rep. Mark Mustio (R-Allegheny). Although the
18 Summer 2017 Central PA Medicine

measure was moved swiftly through the senate,
we anticipate its progress will slow considerably
in the House of Representatives.
Prior Authorization Legislation
Introduced by Rep. Marguerite Quinn
(R-Bucks)
Representative Marguerite Quinn, along
with 38 bi-partisan co-sponsors, introduced
HB 1293. This legislation will improve transparency, accessibility and consistent application
of prior authorization by including a standard
definition. It will also significantly streamline the
process by requiring insurers to make available
an electronic communications network that
permits prior authorization requests to be
submitted electronically, and authorizations
and adverse determinations to likewise be
returned electronically.
Over the past several months, government
relations staff has been working closely with
Rep. Quinn in developing this legislation
and making improvements over last session's
version. Prior to its introduction, staff met with
house members to explain the need for the
legislation and to secure an adequate number
of legislative sponsors.
As a PAMED priority, staff is in the process
of finalizing the physician and patient grassroots
initiative in an effort to generate a considerable
volume of constituent/patient contacts with
legislators. In addition, PAMED staff has
Continued on page 20

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