Legislative update - S.244 - Bill related to health care providers, primary care, health insurance

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee took up S.244, Senator Lyon’s primary care bill. This bill is intended to lift up primary care services in the state, improve reimbursement, and keep providers in the workforce.

Senator Lyons started the discussion on S.244 by stating that she and the committee are all aware of the loss of primary care providers in the state and how urgently we need to retain them in addition to understanding that the reimbursement for primary care and the level of primary care within the healthcare system is insufficient. The bill strengthens primary care, increases overall investment in primary care up to 12% of total care spending, invests in collaborative mental health models, sustains Medicaid rate increases for primary care services, and would establish a chief primary care clinical office at the GMCB.

VNPA is getting clarification on Section 6 of the Bill, “Increasing Medicaid primary care payments” is just for doctors or for all primary care providers including NPs - VNPA's lobbyist is checking for clarification and we will keep you updated. 

The goal is to increase reimbursement for primary care without increasing cost of health care. There are sections in the bill that relate to the work the committee did last year re: telehealth/telemedicine and audio-only visits. Senator Lyons indicated that they will take testimony and that there are some specific concerns about audio-only visits, and what constitutes a billable visit.  

Sen. Lyons communicated with us that she may reach out to hear VNPA’s perspective on the bill.  Please let us know if you're interested in speaking with her.  We will keep the VNPA Membership informed, please reach out to us with questions and concerns.