This is the legislative update for February 1, 2021. View all updates here.
-
President Biden met with 10 GOP Senators about their counteroffer to his proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
-
If a bipartisan agreement cannot be reached, Senate Democrats may move forward to pass President Biden’s package using a process called reconciliation.
-
House committees will include priorities identified by President Biden in the legislation. Children’s is working with the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) on including pediatric health priorities.
-
The Nebraska State Legislature is in its official “Telehealth Week”, hearing bills related to telehealth. These include two parity reimbursement bills and one bill to keep the regulations that were relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent.
The February 1, 2021 legislative update includes highlights from both federal and state legislatures.
Federal Updates
Congress
Both the House and Senate are in session this week.
The White House has maintained that it would like to see their major COVID-19 relief legislation pass with broad bipartisan support. However, there is currently no indication that the Republicans are going to back a package of the size and scope that President Biden has proposed.
In a show of bipartisanship, President Biden met with 10 GOP Senators on Monday to discuss Republicans’ pared-down version of the relief package. Their proposed package would cost about $618 billion — significantly less than President Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposed plan.
Given the difficulty finding common ground, Senate Democrats are moving forward with plans to allow for consideration of President Biden’s COVID-19 relief legislation using budget reconciliation procedures, if necessary.
Reconciliation — which can only be used for policies that change spending or revenues — makes legislation easier to pass in the Senate. It would allow the relief package to pass with a simple majority, without being subject to a filibuster (Translation: A type of tactic used to block or delay legislation).
Once the House and Senate pass a budget, House authorizing committees will begin writing the actual legislation using COVID-19 relief priorities that also meet fiscal targets outlined in the reconciliation instructions.
These priorities, which were identified by President Biden, include substantial funding for:
- Testing and vaccination
- School reopening
- Disaster relief
- Aid to state and local governments
- Raising the minimum wage
Ideally, Democrats would like to see the House write and pass a bill quickly, and then send it to the Senate where it could pass without further changes. If necessary, Vice President Kamala Harris will cast a tie-breaking vote to pass the bill.
Here at Children’s, we are working with the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) to determine any opportunities to include children’s health priorities in the reconciliation process.
The Senate is beginning to confirm President Biden’s cabinet nominations and the House hearings this week include:
| Monday, Feb. 1 | Tuesday, Feb. 2 | Wednesday, Feb. 3 | Thursday, Feb. 4 | Friday, Feb. 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| House Energy & Commerce (E&C) Committee hearing- "Solutions to Increase COVID-19 Vaccines for States." |
House E&C Subcommittee on Health- “Ramping up COVID-19 Vaccines, Testing and Medical Supply Chain." |
House Committee on Oversight and Reform Hearing- "Accountability and Lessons Learned from the Trump Administration’s Child Separation Policy." |
||
| House Finance Committee Hearing - "More than a Shot in the Arm: The Need for Additional COVID-19 Stimulus." |
||||
| House Appropriations Full Committee Organizational Meeting |
State Updates
Nebraska Legislature
Monday marked the beginning of the Nebraska Legislature’s official “Telehealth Week.”
Bill LB400
Children’s has worked on many telehealth bills before the Legislature, but we have been intimately involved in the manufacturing of LB400.
During the pandemic, the public health emergency (PHE) and the need to expand access to telehealth resulted in rules and regulations being relaxed. The LB400 bill seeks to keep these relaxations permanently in Nebraska. If passed, the bill would make permanent:
- Audio-only appointments
- Flexibility in originating site for the patient
- No requirement for written consent
Rebecca Ohlinger, Director of Telehealth, will testify before the Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee Friday morning at 9:30am. You can stream hearings and debate live by clicking here.
Parity Reimbursement Bills
On Monday, the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee heard two telehealth parity reimbursement bills (Translation: Mandates that fully-insured private plans reimburse and cover telehealth services equally to how they would do so for in-person visits).
While payors opposed the mandate for equal coverage, testifiers from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska offered great feedback to the committee about the benefits of telehealth for their consumers.
Senators still have questions about how and when it is appropriate to see patients virtually. We plan to address this in our live-testimony Friday and individually with each Banking Committee Senator.
This week’s hearings include, but are not limited to:
| Monday, Feb. 1 | Tuesday, Feb. 2 | Wednesday, Feb. 3 | Thursday, Feb. 4 | Friday, Feb. 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LB337 (Kolterman) Adopt the Step-Therapy Reform Act | LB529 (Walz) Creates a registry within each school to identify the point person for physical/behavioral health concerns |
LB425 (HHS) Require the Department of Health and Human Services to complete a needs assessment and cost analysis for an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit |
LB645 (Hansen, B) Provide for enhanced penalties for violations of directed health measures committed by public officials |
LB413 (Wishart) Require coverage of medications for substance use disorder treatment and addiction medicine services under the Medical Assistance Act |
| LB487 (Arch) Telehealth parity for behavioral health |
LB117 (Cavanaugh, M) Adopt the Hunger-Free Schools Act | LB490 (Cavanaugh, M) Require youth rehabilitation and treatment centers to obtain a license from the Division of Public Health |
LB251 (Cavanaugh, M) Change the age for organ and tissue donation |
LB400 (Arch) Change requirements related to coverage of telehealth by insurers and Medicaid |
| LB314 | LB133 (Erdman) Adopt the Nebraska EPIC Consumption Tax Act and eliminate certain other taxes |
LB447 (Cavanaugh, M) Change provisions relating to immunization under the Child Care Licensing Act |
LB583 (Murman) Require electronic prescriptions for controlled substances |
|
| LR11CA (Erdman) Constitutional amendment to require enactment of a consumption tax and prohibit certain other forms of taxation |
LB643 (Hansen, B) Protect an individual liberty right to accept or decline a vaccination under a mandatory directive |
If you personally are aware of a bill and would like to add your expertise, feedback, or questions, please contact Liz Lyons at [email protected].
Key Dates
| Monday, January 25th | First Day of Public Hearings – 9:00 a.m. start |
| Tuesday, February 16th | Nebraska Forecasting Advisory Board Meeting |
| Thursday, March 4th | Appropriations Budget due to the Legislature |
| Tuesday, March 16th | Deadline for committee and senator priority bill designations |
| Thursday, April 29th | Budget bills must be on General File |
| Wednesday, May 19th | Budget bills must be passed |
| Thursday, June 10th | Last Day of Legislative Session – Sine Die (Day 90)(tentative) |
| Sunday, June 13 - June 18th | Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) Family Advocacy Day |
Child Health Champion Advocacy Team
Please join the Children’s Child Health Champion Advocacy Team every Thursday at 7:30 a.m. for a 30-minute call.
Advocating for children is extremely important at all stages. This internal group of stakeholders — comprised of providers and experts across the continuum of care at Children’s — meets weekly to ensure we are leading the discussion on child advocacy in the region.
Learn more about our advocacy and legislative work in our community.
If you are interested in joining the movement, contact Liz Lyons at [email protected] for more information.
(Sources: CHA, HHS, Peetz & Co., Nebraska Legislature, OWH)
