This Week at the Ohio Statehouse

The Ohio Senate unanimously rejected the House’s attempt to limit the authority of Amy Acton, MD, the Ohio Department of Health director, by refusing to concur with amendments to SB 1.

The bill now goes to a conference committee consisting of House and Senate members to work out their differences. But Gov. Mike DeWine has already publicly stated he would veto the measure that puts restrictions on the health director’s orders.

The House amendment called for ODH orders to expire after 14 days unless approved by a legislative committee.

After a compromise on surprise medical billing, the House passed HB 388 (95-0) that creates a multi-step process for negotiating out-of-network payments. The medical profession, insurance industry, and lawmakers have been working on the issue for more than a year.

Under the proposal, an out-of-network provider sends its bill to the patient’s insurance company. The insurer can propose a different payment: the highest of their in-network rate, their out-of-network rate, or the federal Medicare rate. The provider can either accept the payment or negotiate another rate. If that fails, the parties go to arbitration with the loser paying 70% of arbitration costs and the winner paying the rest, with the added expense intended to encourage an agreement during the negotiation period.

During the floor vote, lawmakers noted the compromise puts Ohio at the forefront of the issue and called the bill model legislation for other states.

The OOA offered testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in support of SB 308, which expands civil immunity during the pandemic. Please take action to voice your support for the bill! Use this link to ask state legislators to protect physicians from potentially career-ending liability and provide some clarity in the face of immeasurable uncertainty.

The General Assembly is expected to continue its work another three weeks before recessing in mid-June. A busy lame duck session is expected after the November election.

Governor Announces New Health Orders

This week Gov. Mike DeWine announced revisions to the stay-at-home order. The newest version is an “urgent health advisory” called Ohioans Protecting Ohioans that recommends residents follow best practices to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those best practices include social distancing, limiting gatherings to 10 people, frequent hand washing, and advance sanitation. DeWine advised elderly and high-risk Ohioans to continue to stay home.

Most of the coronavirus-related deaths in Ohio have been to those age 80 and older. Ohioans under age 50 account for 49 percent of cases as of Monday, a fifth of hospitalizations, and 2 percent of the deaths.

DeWine shared initial findings from his Minority Health Strike Force. The team was formed in April in response to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on African Americans who make up 14 percent of Ohio’s population, but represent 26 percent of positive COVID-19 cases, 31 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations, and 17 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Ohio.

Strike Force recommendations include: 

• Establishing culturally appropriate and accessible COVID-19 exposure notification services for communities of color.
• Expanding testing capacity and access for minorities and high-risk populations.
• Using data to prioritize resources in the communities that have the highest need.
• Developing and launching a statewide, culturally-sensitive outreach campaign that educates African Americans and communities of color on COVID-19, health disparities, and social determinants of health.

Final recommendations will be issued June 11. 

The Ohio Department of Health issued an alert regarding reporting requirements for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated with COVID-19.

Lessons from the Front Lines

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) host varied recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. A weekly call “Lessons from the Front Lines” is held on Fridays, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm. These calls, a joint effort between CMS Administrator Seema Verma, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, MD, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force, are for physicians and other clinicians to share COVID-19 experiences and strategies.

Register for the May 29 call here.

Suggest a Topic for #MentoringMonday

OOA’s mentoring program connects OU-HCOM students throughout Ohio with our osteopathic leaders. Mentoring Monday’s interactive videocall format delves into areas of particular interest to students like professionalism, developing a niche, alternative medical careers, prioritizing residency programs, interviews, and more. Our goal is to ensure program topics are engaging and timely. 

Students are invited to suggest a topic by using this form.

Attention Residents! Scholarship Available for OMED

The AOA Bureau of Emerging Leaders is offering 10 medical resident scholarships to attend OMED, October 15-19 in Austin, Texas. The grant includes a $1,500 stipend and complimentary registration.

The OMED Scholarship Program was created to increase postdoctoral trainee participation in leadership. Apply at the AOA website. Applications are due by June 1.

OOA Board Trustee Chelsea Nicholson, DO, chairs the OMED scholarship task force.

Board Seeks Subject Matter Experts

The State Medical Board of Ohio contracts with qualified medical experts for quality of care reviews. The Board is currently seeking experts in family medicine, internal medicine and pain management. Potential experts should have a clinical practice in the state of Ohio and be board-certified for a minimum of five years.

If interested, email your CV to donald.davis@med.ohio.gov