Chester County Medicine Spring 2021 - 29

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Prior Authorization Reform
(PAMED supports)

Restrictive Covenants
(PAMED supports)

* House Bill 225 (Mentzer)/Senate Bill 225 (Phillips-Hill) -
Prior authorization reform bills.

* House Bill 681 (Ecker) - Recently, Representative Ecker
reintroduced legislation that aims to prevent the use of noncompete agreements in health care practitioners' employment
contracts. PAMED is in the process of developing legislative
language, in consultation with Rep. Ecker, to amend HB 681
with language that would better protect physicians employed
by hospitals and health systems while at the same time not
disenfranchising physicians who own independent practices. It
is important that any proposal addressing this issue takes into
account the concerns of all PAMED members.

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. Though there are reserved bill numbers, there has
been no legislative language introduced at this time.

International Medical Graduates
(IMG) Licensure Parity
* House Bill 245 (Kaufer) - Rep. Kaufer has reintroduced his
effort to support IMGs through this legislation, which seeks to
modernize the process by which graduates of international medical
schools become licensed. Similar legislation passed the House last
session, but stalled in the Senate.

CRNPs
* Senate Bill 25 (Bartolotta) - PAMED has long opposed these
efforts, but last session agreed to listen/negotiate a pilot program
where CRNPs would be granted independent practice with specific
guidelines and restrictions. As this effort did not come to fruition,
stakeholders are working to determine what legislative action, if
any, would look like given the outcome of the previous session.

Out-of-Network Balance Billing
* HCO 128 (Rapp) - Co-sponsor memorandum to advance
legislation that would protect consumers from surprise balance
bills from medical providers. PAMED has played a lead role in
this effort to advance fair legislation dealing with balance billing.
Given the recent passage of the Federal legislation on this topic,
No Surprises Act, comprehensive protection to consumers was
provided. At this time, we are asking the General Assembly to
defer consideration of state level legislation pending the full
implementation of the new Federal law. There still may be need
for state level legislation in the future, but we won't know until the
Federal law is fully in place.

Liability Protection
(PAMED supports)
* Senate Bill 273 (Baker) - COVID-19 liability protection
effort; providing for limited, temporary, and targeted COVID19-related liability protections for health care workers engaged in
the care and management of patients with or suspected of having
COVID-19. SB 273 seeks to address the disparity between
independently practicing physicians with those associated with
hospitals.

Interstate Medical Compact Act
(PAMED supports)
* House Bill 192 (Topper) - Legislation to allow Pennsylvania
to fully join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, providing
for criminal background checks for expedited licensure applicants.

Opioid Prescribing Limits
* Senate Bill 169 (Yaw) - This bill would limit the prescription
for a controlled substance containing an opioid to seven days
unless there is a medical emergency that puts the patients' health
or safety at risk. PAMED has been in discussions with Senator
Yaw's staff regarding the bill's text.

Lyme Disease CME
(PAMED opposes)
* Senate Bill 281 (Brooks) - This legislation would require
health care practitioners to learn more about Lyme disease and
other tick-borne illness as part of their continuing education
(CME).

Stay up to date on these and other issues at
www.pamedsoc.org and in The Dose.
SPRING 2021 | CHESTER COUNT Y Medicine 29

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Chester County Medicine Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chester County Medicine Spring 2021