Health Center Bills Signed by Governor Stitt
Governor Stitt signed two OKPCA request bills into law this week.
HB 1690, sponsored by Rep. Carl Newton and Sen. Darcy Jech, was signed on Wednesday. The bill removes health center boards of directors as “public bodies” for the purposes the Open Meeting Act and codifies that Medicaid shall pay health centers FQHC PPS at minimum or a PPS-equivalent or greater amount in an alternative payment method. The bill was passed with an emergency clause and was effective immediately upon the Governor's signature.
HB 1071, signed Monday, will add community health centers to the list of provider types exempt from receiving certification from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) in order to provide substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services to patients. Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Boatman and Sen. Brenda Stanley, the bill removes a barrier to providing medicaid assisted treatment (MAT) and other SUD services.
These bills are the result of years of hard-fought advocacy and relationship building, and we're grateful for all the health center advocates who made their passage possible!
Health Center Leaders Meet with Congressman Hern
Last week, health center CEOs in Oklahoma's first congressional district met with Congressman Kevin Hern and members of his staff (pictured below). The Congressman thanked community health centers for stepping up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and praised health centers for "cutting out the distance between access and affordability" and bringing access to patients.
340B
This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) signaled a willingness to act soon to support 340B providers. Last Friday, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) sent the HHS Secretary a recommended list of new appointees for the Administrative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Board. In a letter submitted Monday to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, HHS argued that HRSA's new list of proposed Board members will “correct for shortcomings in the prior slate of appointments.” HRSA shared this list with Secretary Becerra, who will need to approve the proposed list of ADR Board members, and publish it in the Federal Register so the Board can then begin its official work on the lawsuit brought by the National Association of Community Health Center (NACHC) and other similar cases.
HHS also stated in Monday's letter that it is "actively considering additional options for agency enforcement the 340B statute.”No additional details were given, but the suggestion is that the agency will not wait for the ADR/legal process to run its course before taking enforcement action. It is expected that HHS will seek to impose Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) on drug makers who refuse to ship 340B-priced drugs to contract pharmacies.
FCC $250 Million Telehealth Program
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that the seven-day window to submit applications for funding under Round Two of its COVID Telehealth Program will run from 11:00 AM on Thursday, April 29 through 11:00 AM Thursday, May 6. Health centers are encouraged to apply, particularly because:
- The application will be fairly simple. Applicants must provide some basic data, but no extensive narratives are required.
- Given the scoring system that the FCC has established, health centers are well-positioned to be approved for funding – particularly those who applied in Round One (last spring/ summer) but were not funded.
- Applicants can receive up to $1 million to support 100% of the cost of services and supplies needed to expand telehealth.
Health centers—particularly those in rural areas and those who applied but did not receive funding from this program last year—will receive significant priority points, including:
- 15 points for applicants who applied but were not funded in round one last year
- 10 points for being an FQHC
- 10 points for serving a HPSA with a score of 13 or higher
5 points for serving a rural area
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