Health Center Bills Unanimously Approved By Senate and House Committees
OKPCA request bills HB 1071 was unanimously approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Tuesday, and SB 168 was also unanimously passed by the Senate. Both bills would allow health centers to provide substance use disorder services without going through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) certification process. Language supported by ODMHSAS would continue to require health centers to maintain a certification requirement for more advanced services such as inpatient care (Levels of Care 2.1 – 4 as described in the American Society of Addiction Medicine Criteria) that are not normally part of a health center’s scope of services.
Your advocacy has not gone unnoticed! Thank you to everyone who contacted their legislators and advocated on behalf of health centers and patients.
Please take a moment to express thanks to legislators who supported these bills:
- Use this link to send a thank you message to your representative for voting yes on HB 1071.
- Use this link to send a thank you message to your senator for voting yes on SB 168.
OK House to Vote on Health Center Request Bill
Next week, the Oklahoma House is expected to vote on HB 1690. HB 1690, sponsored by Rep. Newton (R-Cherokee), would exempt health centers from complying with the Open Meeting Act and ensure health centers are paid by Medicaid at least the equivalent of the current PPS payment set by federal law. HB 1690 was amended this week to include language ensuring health centers are paid as set by federal law and now includes an emergency clause, which would allow health centers to be exempt from Open Meeting Act requirements upon being signed into law. You can support HB 1690 by
using OKPCA's advocacy platform to view a phone script and/or directly email your representative.
Click here to view the HB 1690 fact sheet.
American Rescue Plan Expected to Be Sent to President for Signature in Coming Days
As expected, the House
passed its version of the American Rescue Plan early last Saturday morning. Like the House bill, the Senate version of the American Rescue Plan provides $7.6 billion for funding for community health centers, and $800 million for the National Health Service Corps. However, relative to the House version, the Senate bill:
- Does not include an increase to the minimum wage
- Applies narrower individual and joint income allowances for those who would receive the $1,400 direct stimulus payments
- Includes $510 million for Federal Emergency Management Agency homeless shelter providers
- Does not include an increase in funding for the Provider Relief Fund
- Includes funding for rural hospitals for COVID-19 relief
Here is the
Senate Budget Committee’s summary of the bill.
On Thursday night, the Senate voted 50-50 on a procedural vote to proceed to the legislation, and Vice President Harris broke the tie. The bill will likely be debated into the weekend. It is expected that the bill will be passed by the Senate after a marathon "vote-a-rama" within the next few days on a party-line vote, with Vice President Harris again breaking the 50-50 tie, and sent to President Biden for his signature.
Express Scripts' Memo Raises 340B Concerns
A recent memo from Express Scripts (ESI) announcing that all prescriptions filled with 340B drugs must be identified within 10 days is raising significant concerns, for the following reasons:
- In the immediate term, it puts further strain on the contract pharmacy model. Most contract pharmacies are unable to provide this data within 10 days, and even if they could, they are likely unwilling to do.However, failing to comply with ESI’s requirements could put their entire ESI contract at risk – and ESI covers about 25% of the US drug market.
- Express Scripts is likely looking to pick-pocket health centers’ 340B savings on these drugs.
- If ESI successfully implements this policy, the other large pharmacy benefit managers are likely to follow, potentially placing the viability of the contract pharmacy model and health centers' ability to retain 340B savings at risk.
The National Association of Community Health Centers is engaging on this issue and will provide updates when available.