York County Medicine Spring 2020 - 27

YO R K C O M E D S O C . O R G

IN THE NEWS

Bills on the Hill:
As Budget Season Begins,
3 New Health Care Bills
Are Signed into Law
Last Updated: Feb 18, 2020
By Michael D. I. Siget, JD, MPA, PAMED's Legislative & Regulatory Counsel

ith Pennsylvania's budget season in full
force, the legislature will turn much of
its focus to enacting a budget for the
2020-2021 fiscal year. However, three health-related
bills were signed by Gov. Wolf recently. In this
Bills on the Hill, we will look at insurance coverage
for Stage IV metastatic cancer, regulation of milk
banks, and amendments to the prescription drug
monitoring program (PDMP) law.

Coverage for Stage IV Metastatic Cancer
HB 427, introduced by Rep. Kerry Benninghoff,
prohibits a health insurance carrier or policy that directly or
indirectly covers the treatment of Stage IV advanced metastatic
cancer to require an enrollee to first fail to successfully respond to a
different drug, or prove a history of failure in the use of a different
drug, before providing coverage for a covered drug for which
the drug has been approved by the U.S. FDA and the drug is
consistent with the best clinical practices for the treatment of Stage
IV advanced metastatic cancer and is supported by peer-reviewed
medical literature.
HB 427 was signed into law at Act 6-2020 on February 12,
2020 and takes effect on April 12, 2020.

The Keystone Mothers' Milk Bank Act
HB 1001, introduced by Rep. Donna Oberlander and Rep.
Rosita Youngblood, will require the state's Department of Health
to license and regulate milk banks in the Commonwealth. Milk
banks requiring licensure shall pay a $1,000 fee for an initial twoyear license and a $250 fee for each license renewal. Milk banks in
operation prior to the effective date of this act are able to continue
to operate pending a decision on their application so long as their
application are made within 120 days of the later of the effective
date of the act or the date an application for a license is first made
available.
Each milk bank will be required to have a managing director,
a medical advisory committee, a medical director, and a board of
directors. Milk banks also will be required to maintain records on
each milk donor, along with results of laboratory tests performed
on donors and milk, and information tracing each donated milk
contained from donor to distribution.

Subject to specific exceptions, donors must
voluntarily contribute milk to a milk bank after being
medically screened and approved for milk donation and
they may not receive remuneration for the donation of
milk. To receive an exception, a milk bank must meet or
exceed additional standards required by the Department
of Health that are reasonably necessary to protect public
health and the recipient of the donor milk, the donor,
and the donor's baby.
HB 1001 was signed into law on February 12, 2020
as Act 7-2020. Some parts took effect immediately and
the remainder of the bill will take effect on August 10, 2020.

Amendments to the PDMP Law
SB 432, introduced by Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, amends the
Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program
(ABC-MAP) Act, better known as the PDMP Law. SB 432 grants
certain individuals of Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to
have access to the information contained in the PDMP program.
The main issue that this bill hopes to address is to better
identify potential prescription drug abuse among individuals
enrolled in the state's Medicaid program. SB 432 also grants access
to authorized employees of a municipal health department of the
state's Department of Health to develop educational programs
or public health interventions relating to specific prescribing
practices, controlled substances, and the prevention of fraud and
abuse.
An amendment was added to SB 432 that prohibits any
political subdivision of the Commonwealth from establishing its
own PDMP database that would require the submission and query
of prescription data by prescribers and dispensers. Philadelphia
City Council had recently passed an ordinance requiring
pharmacies to send reports to the city's health department for all
controlled substance prescriptions. These reports require the name
of the prescribing doctor, the type of drug, how much is being
prescribed, and how often.
SB 432 was signed into law on February 12, 2020 as Act
8-2020. The political subdivision prohibition section took effect
immediately. The remainder of the law takes effect on April 12,
2020.
SPRING 2020 | York County Medicine

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York County Medicine Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of York County Medicine Spring 2020