The 2019 Session comes to an end Friday March 29 with the last legislative day (veto day). The Governor has signed all of the bills on her desk except for two which where style and form vetoes neither of which were on our watch list.
The Public Policy Council voted to support 27 bills.
- 6 were not in the proper form or not the proper process; however, provided an opportunity for the providers to tell their story
- 21 were passed and all were signed by the Governor
The major bills signed by the Governor that the Association was actively supporting were:
- Senate Bill 173 which is the special appropriation for the innovation grants. $5m for nursing home innovation, $1m for prenatal care innovation and the rebase of the long-term care facilities as well as the payment methodology review for long-term care facilities. The association will keep the members updated when new details are released about the application process.
- Senate Bill 118 – MOST, which will establish certain provisions regarding advance care planning to take place.
- Senate Bill 136 & Senate Bill 137 – Telehealth Bills, which will provide for the utilization of telehealth by health care professionals as well as a mechanism for covered services delivered via telehealth to be compensated.
- Senate Bill 180 – is the general bill to wrap up fiscal year 2019. This bill includes funding for the 10% inflationary increase for long-term care, 4% inflationary increase for assisted living and 1.5% for other providers.
- Senate Bill 191 – is the general bill for fiscal year 2020 which begins July 1, 2019 and ends June 30, 2020. This continues the inflationary increases set forth in Senate Bill 180.
