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WVHA Legislative Update

WVHA Legislative Update. May 16, 2014 WV Chapter of HFMA Spring Meeting. Legislative Update 2014. HOSPITAL UPL PROGRAM SANE NAME TAG MEDICAL RECORDS PATIENT INJURY COMPENSATION FUND APPROPRIATION BUDGET. Legislative Update 2014.

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WVHA Legislative Update

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  1. WVHA Legislative Update May 16, 2014 WV Chapter of HFMA Spring Meeting

  2. Legislative Update 2014 • HOSPITAL UPL PROGRAM • SANE • NAME TAG • MEDICAL RECORDS • PATIENT INJURY COMPENSATION FUND APPROPRIATION • BUDGET

  3. Legislative Update 2014 • HOSPITAL UPL PROGRAM - SB 456  -Continuation of the Hospital Upper Payment Limit (UPL) Program. Provisions continue the Program for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY) July 1, 2014 thru June 30, 2015 and includes a hospital tax rate of 0.62%

  4. Legislative Update 2014 • SANE -HB 108 - Creating Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Commission. Does not have the mandate provision for hospitals to have SANE coverage 24/7, but rather creates a Commission within the Governor’s Office of Crime and Delinquency with WVHA representation. The bill further authorizes the creation of sexual assault forensic examination boards throughout the state with community hospital and stakeholder representation to evaluate the needs of each county (or region) in order to develop a plan to determine where examination services will be available for victims of sexual assault. 

  5. Legislative Update 2014 • NAME TAG -SB 602 – Requiring health care providers wear ID badges.  As passed, the bill includes an exemption for hospitals and other providers that already utilize name tags.  It also includes an exemption for behavioral health providers and those working in other patient care areas.  Applies to employees of health care providers who employ at least three licensed practitioners or employ more than ten employees as of July 1, 2016.

  6. Legislative Update 2014 • MEDICAL RECORDS - HB 4560 - Relating to the reimbursement for copies of medical records. WVHA and others  advocated the use of  language mirroring the federal HITECH HIPPA rules recently implemented in Sept. 2013 which outlines the scope of “reasonable fees” that can be charged for both paper and electronic copies under 164.524(c)(4). The cost-based fee includes the costs of copying, the cost of supplies and labor for copying and postage (if mailed). Legislation placed a cap in the bill but only on the hourly labor rate ($25 per hour adjusted by CPI annually).

  7. Legislative Update 2014 • PATIENT INJURY COMPENSATION FUND APPROPRIATION - HB 4621- This bill moves $2 million in expiring funds from the Department of Administration’s Board of Risk and Insurance Management Medical Liability Fund to BRIM’s Patient Injury Compensation Fund for the fiscal year ending June 30. The PICF was created in 2004 and allows patients to seek compensation for economic damages over and above the $500,000 cap on medical liability claims. Prior to the passage of the bill, the Fund had about $225,000.

  8. Legislative Update 2014 • In order to balance the general revenue budget, budget conferees took $147.5 million out of the state's Rainy Day emergency funds, about $63.67 million more than the governor had proposed using. However, passage of the special-session legislation to reduce Lottery subsidies will allow the state to put about $21 million back into the Rainy Day fund. Balance in the Fund is somewhere around $900 million. • Legislators noted that in order to fully fund Medicaid and avoid cuts to the Program, they had to dip into the Fund. It was also noted during discussions that the Budget includes between $11-17 million for administrative costs as a result of the ACA and Medicaid expansion.  It’s been reported that the state's costs for expansion will be around $375.5 million from fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2023, and will mean an additional $5.2 billion in federal funding for the same time period, according to an actuarial study.

  9. Legislative Update 2014 Wage and Hour Legislation • Minimum wage bill (HB 4283) that was signed by the Governor earlier this month. The bill will raise the current $7.25 an hour minimum wage to $8 on Jan. 1, 2015, and again to $8.75 the following year. • The bill prevents 80 percent of the state's employers from using federal overtime exemptions. • May 19th – 21stSpecial Sessionto address.

  10. Legislative Update 2014 • Questions??

  11. Legislative Update 2014 Carol Haugen Vice President of Financial Policy West Virginia Hospital Association 100 Association Dr. Charleston, WV 25311 chaugen@wvha.org

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