Bucks Montgomery Physician Winter 2021 - 19

in " stalemate " of sorts where it will not go as is, but also
will not go against the drafter's (Chairman Pickett) original
intent/language. No movement on this bill was a positive
outcome for PAMED as it stalled before the full House.
House Bill 533 - (Owlett) - Credentialing-Passed the
House (187-0). After various stakeholder meetings, it is
likely that Senator Brooks will be introducing a new version
of this bill, which will have to go back to the House at
some point if it is to move. This bill received no action
in the Senate Banking and Insurance committee.
House Bill 944 - (Fritz) - Allows the auditing of subcontractors
to PBMs. Passed the House (197-0). No movement on
this bill from Senate Health and Human Services.
House Bill 79 - (Isaacson) - lead testing for childrenPAMED did not take a position other than to say that
we are following the lead of the pediatricians. This bill
came out of House Children and Youth and received
first consideration from the full House, then stalled.
House Bill 137 - (Quinn) - Drug Overdose-Requires
overdose victims to be taken to and receive evaluation
by a certified recovery specialist. Passed the House (12272) and stalled in the Senate Judiciary committee.
House Bill 2103 - (Jozwiak) - Patient Test Result
I.e. Act 112 remedy. Passed the House (202-0).
PAMED worked to advance this bill but it died in the
Senate Health and Human Services committee.
House Bill 1743 - (Sonney) - Disclosure of disingenuous
physician complaints. This bill would no longer require
physicians to acknowledge the existence of a complaint
filed against their medical license if the case were closed
without any formal action. Bill was referred to House
Professional Licensure where it saw no action.
House Bill 1947 - (Kaufer) - IMG. Seeks to modernize
the process by which graduates of international medical
schools become licensed. Passed the House (202-0)
and advanced to the Senate Consumer Protection &
Professional Licensure committee, where it stalled.
House Bill 916 - (Stephens) - The bill deals with alcohol
monitoring as a condition of bail for repeat DUI offenders.
Our concern is not with this bill but the proposed
amendment from Rep. Klunk which would require the
use of MAT (and behavioral counseling) as a condition of
ARD. Passed the House (142-51) and Senate (46-3) with
amendments but failed to get concurrence in the House.
House Bill 1075 - (Stephens) - ERPOs; creates an
alternative to the 302 process. PAMED has written in
support and has policy to support. It was always unlikely
that either of these bills moved in an election year by
Republican majorities in both chambers as they are viewed
by many as restrictions on the Second Amendment/gun
rights. Neither of these bills received committee votes.
House Bill 891 - (Rothman) - Addressed patient access
to experienced physicians; Dr. Kakaria bill introduced by
Rep. Rothman after significant engagement; stakeholder
meeting conducted with the Chairwoman of the House

Insurance Committee. Bill was referred to the House
Insurance Committee where it received no further action.
House Bill 1194 - (Mentzer) - Prior authorization reform
bills. There is a large coalition with multiple provider
entities and patient advocacy groups seeking to make
wholesale changes to the prior authorization process in
the Commonwealth. PAMED has played an integral role
in developing this legislation and working to advance it.
There was no committee action on either of these bills.
Senate Bill 920 - (Phillips-Hill) - Senate
companion bill to HB1194.
House Bill 100 - (Topper) - These are two very familiar pieces
of legislation as they seek to grant CRNPs independent practice
authority. It is likely that any movement would be on HB100
due to political tension with the Senate sponsor. PAMED has
long opposed these efforts but have recently agreed to listen/
negotiate a pilot program where CRNPs would be granted
independent practice with specific guidelines and restricts.
Passed the House and stalled in committee in the Senate.
Senate Bill 25 - (Bartolotta) - Senate companion bill to HB100.
House Bill 2212 - (Frankel) - This effort seeks to establish a
prescription drug affordability abord, which would determine
whether certain drugs pose affordability burdens and cap
the amount that pharmaceutical companies can charge for
necessary drugs. PAMED recently participated in a stakeholder
meeting and is reviewing this legislation with the Legislative
Advocacy Task Force. No committee action occurred.
House Bill 629 - (Rapp) - This bill requires health insurers
to cover treatment plans of Lyme disease or related tickborne illnesses as prescribed by a health care practitioner;
issues over what type of treatments could be covered
(experimental long-term antibiotic for example). Passed
the House (158-34) and referred to Senate Banking
and Insurance committee, where it remained.
House Bill 990 - (O'Neal) - This legislation seeks to assist
trained military medical personnel with transitioning into medical
roles once in the civilian world by creating a military medic pilot
program. It requires that military medical personnel be under
the supervision of a physician or podiatrist and the supervising
practitioner retains responsibility for the patient. HAP supports,
seeking to partner with PAMED. No committee vote took place.
House Bill 2636 - (Ecker) - Recently, Representative Ecker
circulated a co-sponsor memo seeking support for his
legislation that will aim to prevent the use of non-compete
agreements in health care practitioners' employment contracts.
PAMED has long had policy to support this effort and
will be working to ensure that any legislation that moves
forward considers the impact on all of PAMED members.
The session ended prior to any committee activity.
House Bill 2779 - (Quinn) - This legislation seeks to extend
the easement of regulations and licensing requirements for
various mid-level practitioners beyond what the Governor's
Executive Orders provide for concurrent with the COVID19 Emergency Declaration. PAMED opposed this bill
as it has the potential to negatively impact various scope

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BUCKS AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETIES

Bucks Montgomery Physician Winter 2021

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