CURRENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

Below is a summary of Ohio legislation OAHU is monitoring that has received committee activity in the past few months.
 
H.B. 185 (DeGeeter & Book) - Material Amendments to Contracts
On May 19, 2009, Representatives Tim DeGeeter (D-Parma) and Todd Book (D-Portsmouth) introduced H.B. 185 to specify that a material amendment to a health care contract does not become part of the contract unless agreed upon by both parties. The bill passed out of the House on October 21, 2009, and has received its third hearing in the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee on February 9, 2010.
 
H.B. 122 & S.B. 98 (Boyd & T. Patton) - Physician Designations Protections
On April 4 and April 8, 2009, Representative Barbara Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) and Senator Tom Patton (R-Strongsville), introduced H.B. 122 and S.B. 98, respectively, to place various requirements on health insurers that operate a system for physician designations including what must be considered in the evaluations, disclosure requirements, appeal rights and legal remedies against an insurer if a provider is adversely affected by a violation of the requirements.  H.B. 122 passed the House on February 3, 2010. S.B. 98 has received two hearings in the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.
 
H.B. 384 (Bolon) - Off-Label Drug Usage
On December 1, 2009, Representative Linda Bolon (D-Columbiana) introduced H.B. 384 to use the compendia adopted by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services under 42 USC 1395x (t)(2), as amended, or in medical literature that meets certain criteria to determine whether an insurer may limit or exclude coverage for off-label drug usage. The bill received its second hearing in the House Insurance Committee on January 27, 2010.
 
S.B. 210 (Coughlin & Kearney) and H.B. 373 (Carney & Wachtmann) - Nutrition/Physical Activity in Schools
On November 17, 2009, Senators Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls)and Eric Kearney (D-Cincinnati) introduced S.B. 210 and Representatives John Carney (D-Columbus) and Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon) introduced H.B. 373 to establish nutritional standards for certain foods and beverages sold in public and chartered nonpublic schools; to require students to have periodic body mass index measurements; to require daily physical activity for students and to make other changes regarding physical education; and to establish the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Council.  S.B. 210 has received two hearings in the Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee and H.B. 373 has received two hearings in the House Health Committee. 
 
H.B. 300 (Dyer & Hottinger) - Insurance Agent Licensure
On October 6, 2009, Representatives Steve Dyer (D-Uniontown) and Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) introduced H.B. 300 to bring Ohio law into compliance with national standards established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to provide uniformity in agent licensure and oversight. Forty-six other states have already adopted these standards.  The bill was proposed after input from the Insurance Agent Education Advisory Council. OAHU's current representative on the Council is OAHU President Steve Brubaker. The bill passed out of the House on December 1, 2009, and received its second hearing in the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee on January 26, 2010.
 
H.B. 146 (Hagan) - Authorize Counties to Participate in State Employee Plan
On April 22, 2009, Representative Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) introduced H.B. 146 to authorize county officers and employees to participate in the state employee health insurance plan sponsored by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. The bill received its third hearing in the House Insurance Committee on January 26, 2010.
 
S.B. 133 (Gillmor) H.B. 237 (Newcomb) - Cancer Medications
On June 10, 2009, and June 23, 2009, Senator Karen Gillmor (R-Tiffin) and Representative Deborah Newcomb (D-Conneaut) introduced S.B. 133 and H.B. 237, respectively, which would do the following:
(1)   Prohibit health insurance contracts that provide coverage for cancer chemotherapy treatment from providing coverage for a prescribed, orally administered cancer medication on a less favorable basis than coverage for intravenously administered or injected cancer medications.
(2)   Prohibit health insurance contracts that provide coverage for non-self-injectable medications, medications that must be compounded immediately prior to administration, or both, from doing either of the following:
a. Requiring an enrollee to take possession of such a medication from a pharmacy that is a retail seller, or
b. Giving an enrollee the option of having such a medication delivered directly to the enrollee by mail or any means of commercial shipment.
S.B. 133 received its second hearing in the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee on February 9, 2010, and H.B. 237 received sponsor testimony in the House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee on January 27, 2010.
 
H.B. 331 (Hagan) & S.B. 205 (Hughes & Turner) - Medicaid Employer Information
On October 27, 2009, Representative Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) introduced H.B. 331 and on November 12, 2009, Senators Jim Hughes (R-Columbus) and Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) introduced S.B. 205 to require applicant's for CHIP, Medicaid, Ohio Work's First and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide information about their employers and to require quarterly reports identifying the employers. H.B. 331 has received three hearings in the House State Government Committee and S.B. 205 has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.
 
H.B. 310 (Garland & Driehaus) - Prostheses Mandate
Representatives Nancy Garland (D-New Albany) and Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) introduced H.B. 310 on October 13, 2009, to require health insurers to provide coverage for prostheses benefits that are at least equal to the benefits provided under the Medicare program. The bill had its fifth hearing in the House Health Committee on December 9, 2009.
 
H.B. 8 (Celeste & Garland) - Autism Mandate
On December 8, 2009, the Ohio House of Representatives passed H.B. 8 (Autism coverage mandate). H.B. 8 passed the House by a vote of 57-39. An amendment by Representative Kevin Bacon (R-Columbus) was included in the bill that does the following:
(1)   $36,000 annual cap per enrollee.
(2)   Insurer can review plan of treatment every 6 months.
(3)   Reimbursement is limited to someone licensed, certified or regulated by the state or someone working under their guidance.
(4)   Delayed effective date until Jan. 1, 2011.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.
 
H.B. 81 (Boyd & Gardner) - Diabetes Mandate
On December 8, 2009, the Ohio House passed H.B. 81 by a vote of 58-38. The bill mandates coverage for diabetes supplies, equipment and education. An amendment by Representative Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green) that sets up a small business health care affordability task force was included in the bill.  The amendment included provisions of Rep. Gardner's H.B. 256.  The task force is to look at tax incentives for businesses and incentives for businesses to offer wellness and disease prevention programs. The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.
 
H.B. 216 (Carney) - Regulation of Professional Employer Organizations
On June 6, 2009, Representative John Carney (D-Columbus) introduced H.B. 216 relating to the regulation of professional employer organizations (PEOs).  There was language in the introduced version of the bill that would have authorized PEOs to treat "shared employees" from multiple employers as one employer for purposes of offering health insurance. In the House Commerce & Labor Committee the bill was amended to remove this language and passed out of the committee on January 26, 2010.
 
H.B. 357 (Carney) - Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact
On November 10, 2009, Representative John Patrick Carney (D-Columbus) introduced H.B. 357 regarding the Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact and the authority of certain EMS personnel to dispense drugs during an emergency that affects the public health; the authority of the governor to declare the existence of a health exigency; and information and guidelines issued by the Department of Health concerning health exigencies; and to declare an emergency.  The bill has received four hearings in the House Health Committee.
 
SCR 24 (Jones) - Unfunded Medicaid Mandates
On January 19, 2009, Senator Shannon Jones (R-Springboro) introduced SCR 24 which memorializes the Congress regarding unfunded federal Medicaid mandates, unfair distribution of Medicaid resources among the states, public funding of abortion, and healthcare coverage of abortion in the current versions of the federal health care reform bills.  The bill received its third hearing in the Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee on February 9, 2010.
 
HCR 32 (Hagan) - Support Public Option
On November 12, 2009, Representative Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) introduced HCR 32 to request all members of the General Assembly to support the public option as part of national health care reform.  The bill has been referred to the House Health Care Access & Affordability Committee, but has not received a hearing.
 
H.B. 198 (Lehner & Ujvagi) - Medical Home Demonstration Project
On June 2, 2009, Representatives Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) and Peter Ujvagi (D-Toledo) introduced H.B. 198 to establish the Medical Home Model Demonstration Project and to provide for Choose Ohio First Scholarships to be awarded to medical students who agree to practice primary care in Ohio.  The legislation contemplates the demonstration project being conducted in Montgomery and Lucas Counties.  The bill received its fourth hearing in the House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee on January 27, 2010.

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