| bree_collaborative_finalizes_recommendations_in_response_to_volk_v_demeerleer | Bree Collaborative Finalizes Recommendations in Response to Volk v. DeMeerleer | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/20200123/bree_collaborative_finalizes_recommendations_in_response_to_volk_v_demeerleer | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>
January 23, 2020</h5>
<h2>
Bree Collaborative Finalizes Recommendations in Response to Volk v. DeMeerleer
</h2>
<p>
At the request of the Washington State Legislature, the <a href="http://www.breecollaborative.org/topic-areas/previous-topics/risk-of-violence/">Dr. Robert Bree Collaborative</a> recently adopted recommendations intended to address clinician uncertainty resulting from the 2016 Washington State Supreme Court decision <em>Volk v. DeMeerleer</em>. <a href="http://www.breecollaborative.org/topic-areas/previous-topics/risk-of-violence/">The Risk of Violence to Others Report and Recommendations</a> can be downloaded for review from the Bree Collaborative website.
</p>
<p>
While intended to provide an overview of best practices for clinical care, the Bree Collaborative is concerned about setting actionable recommendations in light of the standards set in <em>Volk</em>, and suggests that even with these recommendations, legislative action is needed to address the questions raised by court's decision, including:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Addressing <em>Volk's</em> discrepancies with current law (RCWs 71.05.120, 70.02.050, and 70.02.230).</li>
<li>Creating one uniform standard on the duties of mental health professionals to protect third parties from violent acts of patients to supersede <em>Volk</em> and apply regardless of treatment settings.</li>
<li>Clarifying the scope of the duty to protect by specifying the range of clinicians subject to the duty to protect, conditions that trigger the duty to protect, persons to whom the duty to protect is owed, and options for discharging the duty to protect.</li>
</ul>
<p>
The WSMA was actively engaged in the work group that created the recommendations. The Bree Collaborative will now send the recommendations to the state Health Care Authority in accordance with its usual process for review and approval and will also send them to the House Health Care &amp; Wellness Committee and the Senate Health &amp; Long Term Care Committee.
</p>
<p>
The <em>Volk</em> decision was <a href="[@]Shared_Content/News/Weekly_Rounds/2018/Volk_decision_a_few_words_make_a_huge_difference">aggressively opposed by the WSMA</a> and a large coalition of national and state partners due to its substantial expansion of clinician liability and the potential chilling effect on patient care. We are pleased to see the Bree Collaborative address the need for the Legislature to address significant legal ambiguities in order to support Washington's mental health professionals.
</p>
<p>
If you have questions, email Katerina LaMarche, JD, at <a href="mailto:katerina@wsma.org">katerina@wsma.org</a>.
</p>
</div> | 1/23/2020 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
| legislative_session_week_one_highlights | Legislative Session Week One Highlights | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/20200123/legislative_session_week_one_highlights | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>
January 23, 2020</h5>
<h2>
Legislative Session Week One Highlights
</h2>
<p>
</p>
<p>
If a physician colleague asks you "<a href="[@]WSMA/Membership/Why_Join_the_WSMA/WSMA/Membership/Why_Join_the_WSMA_/Why_Join_the_WSMA.aspx?hkey=de6b7c3d-8b5a-420d-a55e-db6e2faf5715">What's the value of membership in the WSMA</a>?" a quick and easy answer is the work we, and many of your committed WSMA member colleagues, do on the ground in Olympia during the state legislative session. That work was on full display last week, as Washington state lawmakers began their "short" 60-day working session. Proposed bills on issues of importance to physicians - credentialing, maintenance of certification, a low-carbon fuel standard, to name a few - were heard in committee hearings, several featuring WSMA physician advocates providing testimony.
</p>
<p>
The legislative session kicked off with the swearing in of a new Speaker of the House, Rep. Laurie Jinkins of the Tacoma area. Jinkins is the first new House speaker in over two decades, and - in two historic firsts - the first woman House speaker and its first openly gay speaker.
</p>
<p>
Here is a brief rundown of the priority health care bills heard last week in committees, a few shout-outs to our physician advocates who testified, and what's in store for this week (and in case you missed it, WSMA CEO Jennifer Hanscom lays out our top legislative priorities in our inaugural legislative update video <a href="https://vimeo.com/384585974">here</a>).
</p>
<h3>
Legislative session week one (Jan. 13-17): Health care highlights
</h3>
<p>
<strong>Health care provider credentialing</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1552&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 1552</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
Among other provisions, House Bill 1552 would require insurers to retroactively reimburse for care delivered by providers during credentialing time, upon approval of credentialing application. It also would reduce the deadline by which insurers must approve or deny credentialing applications to 45 days. WSMA members Ken Lee, MD; Edward Cates, MD; and Christie Mcannally, office manager at Pioneer Family Practice, joined WSMA's Director of Policy Jeb Shepard to testify in support of this legislation during a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care &amp; Wellness on Jan. 15. <a href="https://vimeo.com/386784881" target="_blank">Watch Drs. Lee and Cates testimony</a>.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Prohibiting maintenance of certification as a condition for insurer network participation</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2313&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2313</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 2313 would prohibit insurers from requiring that physicians participate in maintenance of certification programs as a condition of being a participating provider in health plans. WSMA member Ken Lee, MD, and WSMA Director of Government Affairs Sean Graham testified in support of this legislation during a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care &amp; Wellness on Jan. 15.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Physician assistants</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2378&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2378</a>,<em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 2378 would make modifications to modernize the Physician Assistant Practice Act and to facilitate the ability of physician assistants to gain employment and practice. WSMA contract lobbyist Katie Kolan, JD, testified in support of this legislation during a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care &amp; Wellness on Jan. 17.
</p>
<h3>
Other priority issues heard during week one (Jan. 13-17)
</h3>
<p>
<strong>Health coverage for young adults</strong> –<a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1697&amp;Year=2019&amp;Initiative=false">HB 1697</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 1687 would expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals aged 19 to 26 whose income is at or below 138% of the federal poverty level and who are not eligible for traditional Medicaid (i.e. undocumented individuals.).
</p>
<p>
<strong>Expiration date for notification of a biosimilar</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2251&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2251</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 2251 would extend by five years the expiration date for required notification to a prescriber in the event of the substitution of a biosimilar drug for a biologic drug.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Student health plans</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2252&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2252</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 2252 would require that student health plans that provide coverage for maternity care services also provide coverage for abortions.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Living donor act</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6039&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6039</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
Senate Bill 6039 would make it illegal for insurers to decline, limit, or price coverage based on an individual's status as a living organ donor or discriminate against them in any way for the same reason.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Direct primary care</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6062&amp;Year=2019&amp;Initiative=false">SB 6062</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
Senate Bill 6062 would repeal a reporting requirement for direct primary care practices to operate in the state.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Health system transparency</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2036&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2036</a>, <em>WSMA opposes</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 2036 would impose new financial reporting requirements on hospitals and apply the same requirements to ambulatory surgical facilities.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Low carbon fuel standard</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5412&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 5412</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
Senate Bill 5412 would require a 20% reduction in the carbon intensity of transportation fuels.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Increasing access to medications for people with opioid use disorder</strong> – <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2335&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2335</a>, <em>WSMA supports</em>
</p>
<p>
House Bill 2335 would increase allowances for pharmacies to administer, dispense, or deliver drugs to patients who receive evidence-based opioid use disorder treatment "at the health care entity" and in compliance with Washington State Pharmacy Commission rules. This legislation was developed by WSMA member Lucinda Grande, MD.
</p>
<h3>
Legislative session week two (Jan. 21-25). Public hearings were on the following:
</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6077&amp;Year=2019&amp;Initiative=false">SB 6077</a> <strong>,</strong> concerning high-capacity magazines.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6106&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6106</a>, improving postpartum Medicaid coverage.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6128&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6128</a>, extending coverage during the postpartum period.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6097&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6097</a>, requiring the insurance commissioner to review a health carrier's surplus levels as part of its rate filing review process.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2240&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2240</a>, concerning high-capacity magazines.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2241&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2241</a>, concerning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2303&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2303</a>, concerning professional licensing requirements for service members and military spouses.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6288&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6288</a>, creating the Washington office of firearm violence prevention.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1562&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 1562</a>, concerning health care benefit management</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6254&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6254</a>, protecting public health and safety by enhancing the regulation of vapor products.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2457&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2457</a>, establishing the health care cost transparency board.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2438&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">HB 2438</a>, concerning establishment of the prescription opioid impact account.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6070&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6070</a>, concerning public disclosures by state-funded substance use disorder treatment programs and facilities.</li>
<li><a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6086&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2019">SB 6086</a>, increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder.</li>
</ul>
<p>
Stayed tuned for highlights from those hearings. For regular updates on our advocacy during session, visit our <a href="[@]WSMA/News_Publications/Latest_News/Advocacy_Report/WSMA/News_Publications/Newsletters/WSMA_Advocacy_Report.aspx?hkey=fbce906b-dbfb-4af3-8790-11f84275cf1e">online Advocacy Report</a>.
</p>
<h3>
Physician advocacy in person in Olympia can make a difference
</h3>
<p>
Don your white coat and come to the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for the 2020 WSMA Legislative Summit, our "doctors' day on the Hill." The event is free for members - <a href="[@]WSMA/Events/Legislative_Summit/WSMA/Events/Legislative_Summit/Legislative_Summit.aspx?hkey=ec5e0510-cee2-4aa9-b549-905d63952454">learn more and register online today</a>. Or consider lending your expertise and experience to lawmakers by testifying on a bill or issue you care about. Contact Alex Wehinger at <a href="mailto:alex@wsma.org">alex@wsma.org</a>to learn more.
</p>
</div> | 1/23/2020 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
| naturopath_scope_expansion_bill_set_for_house_vote | Naturopath Scope Expansion Bill Set for House Vote | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/20200123/naturopath_scope_expansion_bill_set_for_house_vote | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>
January 23, 2020</h5>
<h2>
Naturopath Scope Expansion Bill Eligible for House Vote
</h2>
<p>
</p>
<p>
A perennial issue for physicians - the <a href="[@]WSMA/About/Policies/Whats_Our_Policy/Scope_Of_Practice/Scope_Of_Practice_General.aspx">expansion of non-physician scope of practice without the requisite education or training</a> - has reared its head again this session.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2019&amp;BillNumber=1630">House Bill 1630</a>, legislation held over from 2019 and strongly opposed by the WSMA, was made eligible for a vote in the House this week (the vote is pending at the time of this writing). The bill would grant naturopaths prescriptive authority for Schedule III-V drugs, without detailing specific education and training requirements, and require a "practice agreement" with a physician - requiring physicians to supervise naturopaths - while leaving the term undefined and potentially ripe for abuse. If passed by the Legislature, HB 1630 will jeopardize patient safety, increase the proliferation of potentially dangerous prescription drugs, and blur the lines between care provided by physicians and naturopaths. <strong>Our bottom line:</strong> Ensuring access to care is a legitimate issue, but it should be addressed through more responsible means <strong> - </strong> such as increasing medical residencies and providing incentives for members of our existing workforce to increase their Medicaid patient panels.
</p>
<p>
Thank you to all the WSMA members who responded to our call to action this week urging a "no" vote from House lawmakers. If you haven't yet contacted your representatives, <a href="https://takeaction.wsma.org/act-now-to-stop-expansion-of-naturopath-scope-of-practice/" target="_blank">do so today</a>. We will continue keeping you apprised of developments pending the outcome of the House vote.
</p>
</div> | 1/23/2020 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |