Legislature Home for Easter/Passover Break; Budget Work Begins

April 6, 2023

Legislators adjourned for the Easter/Passover Break on April 4, to return April 11 with six weeks to wrap up their business before the May 22 legislative adjournment date. With members home in-district, it is the perfect time to connect with your legislator regarding policies to help physicians and their patients.  

As the Legislature left for break, all of the major omnibus bills are proceeding through committees in both bodies. When lawmakers return, the work will focus on reconciling differences between the Senate and House through the conference committee process.   

Here is a summary of where the MMA’s top legislative priorities sit: 

Mid-year formulary change limits: This bill prohibits insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from forcing a patient to change drugs during the middle of a patient’s contract year. This language is included in the Senate health and human services omnibus bill, but not in any House omnibus bills. 

CANDOR: Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR) is a process to improve patient safety through open and honest communication following an adverse event. Legislation protecting CANDOR discussions from lawsuit discovery is awaiting final action on both the Senate and House floor. It is also included in the House judiciary omnibus bill.  

POLST registry: This bill establishes a work group to study and recommends the creation of a statewide registry for Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms. This language is in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills.  

Audio-only telehealth extension: This bill includes language to continue coverage of audio-only telehealth until July 1, 2025, and to continue the study of audio-only telehealth services for one year. It is included in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills.  

Recuperative care: Language to extend Medical Assistance (MA) coverage for recuperative care services for enrollees experiencing homelessness is included in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bill. This coverage is critical to address the healthcare challenges related to homelessness – a significant social driver of health.  

Here are additional bills of importance to the practice of medicine: 

Firearm universal criminal background checks: This language expands the required criminal background checks to apply to all sales and transfers of firearms, including private loans and gifts of firearms. This language is in both the House and Senate judiciary omnibus bills. 

Firearm extreme risk protection orders: This language, also known as a “red flag law,” allows family members to petition law enforcement or the courts to temporarily remove firearms from someone who is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. This language is in both the House and Senate judiciary omnibus bills. 

Firearm safe storage: This bill requires firearms to be secured in a lockbox, or with a trigger lock, and requires that  ammunition be stored separately. This is in the House judiciary omnibus bill, but did not meet committee deadline in the Senate. 

Mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms: This bill would require lost or stolen firearms to be reported to law enforcement within a certain time frame. This language is in the House Judiciary omnibus bill, but did not meet the committee deadline in the Senate. 

Healthcare worker safety grants: This language provides grants to healthcare entities to improve worker safety. This language is in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills. 

Rural and primary care workforce grants: This involves Increased funding to address the healthcare workforce shortages in underserved areas through loan forgiveness, clinical training grants, and primary care residency training programs. It is contained in the House health and human services omnibus bill. The Senate omnibus bill did not include the entire Governor’s recommendation. 

APCD: This language updates the All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) to ensure the state is collecting the complete picture of healthcare spending by including payment data that is not included in an insurance claim. It also requires the Commissioner of Health to study the amount of healthcare spending directed at primary care services. This language is in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills. 

Reproductive health services barrier repeals: This language removes multiple items from Minnesota statute intended to obstruct access to reproductive services including abortion. This language is in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills. 

Abortion protections for providers and their patients: This is also known as the “Reproductive Freedom Defense Act (RFDA).” It prevents state courts or officials from complying with extraditions, arrests or subpoenas related to out-of-state patients who receive care in Minnesota and provides protections for physicians facing an abortion-related lawsuit against them in another state. This bill has passed the Minnesota House and is moving toward final action in the Senate. 

LARCs: This language provides Medical Assistance (MA) coverage and reimbursement of postpartum use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) immediately following a delivery. This language is in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills. 

Family planning: This language increases Medical Assistance (MA) reimbursement rates for family planning services. This language is in both the House and Senate health and human services omnibus bills. 

Early childhood services: This language provides a significant investment increase for early childhood services. It is included in the House children and families omnibus bill. Similar language is included in the House health and human omnibus bill, and in multiple Senate omnibus bills.