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South Carolina General Assembly Kicks Off 119th Legislative Session
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The SC General Assembly began its second year of the biennial session at noon on Tuesday, January 10. Two new members of the House were elected during the interim, Representatives Edward Southard (R-Berkeley) and Joshua Putnam (R-Anderson). Representative Southard was elected to the seat of Representative David Umphlett who served our state well until he passed away in May of pancreatic cancer. Representative Putman won the seat of former Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Representative Dan Cooper (R-Anderson), who retired. Rep. Putnam will serve on the House Education Committee and Rep. Southard on the Agriculture Committee.
When Rep. Cooper retired, composition of the powerful House budget writing committee changed. During the interim this summer, Representative Brian White (R-Anderson) was named Committee Chairman, which left the chairmanship of the HHS Subcommittee vacant. This fall, Representative Murrell Smith was tapped to be chairman of the subcommittee. Rep. Smith, a lawyer by trade, represents Sumter and Clarendon Counties. With his father, two brothers and father-in-law practicing physicians, Rep. Smith has been exposed to healthcare issues for quite some time.
The first week of session always feels like the first week back to school after the summer break. This year was no different. As constituents, lobbyists and legislators caught up, we learned of three candidates being considered for DHEC Commissioner, each of whom has had experience in healthcare policy: Ingo Angermeier, former CEO of Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Pam Dukes, Deputy Commissioner for Health Regulation at DHEC, and Catherine Templeton, current director of the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation. The appointment of the DHEC Commissioner will have a significant impact on a myriad of healthcare issues, including on-going legislative efforts to create separate agencies for health and environmental issues. Because of strong political and public opinion, restructuring of DHEC is not likely to gain much traction in 2012. |
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Key Issues Facing Legislators & Factors Influencing Their Outcomes
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There are several key factors that will have an impact on what happens this session, the most influential being the 2012 election year. Both Senate and House members are up for re-election and legislators will be careful not to stir up controversial issues which may negatively affect their campaigns. Another factor is time. This is the second of the two year session so any legislation not passed this year will die. If members of the General Assembly want specific legislation passed, they will need to buckle down and not waste time playing games.
Considering the short window of opportunity to pass legislation and legislators gearing up for campaign re-election mode, what will be the focus of the 2012 session? Government restructuring, including the creation of a Department of Administration, tax reform, state retirement and spending caps. Negotiations and passage of the annual state spending package (the appropriations bill) is always a priority for the General Assembly, and SCHA.
With a projected $900 million surplus for the 2012-13 state budget, partisan fighting over spending priorities will be constant headline news. Republicans will be jockeying for the money to be spent paying off our loans from the Federal government and socked away in a rainy day fund. Democrats will be pushing for services provided by state agencies to be funded at the levels of a healthier economy. South Carolina’s General Fund has been cut $1.66 billion since 2008 and services provided by state agencies have been the brunt of those cuts.
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What about healthcare? SCHA Legislative Priorities 2012
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MEDICAID
SCHA will be working closely with the budget writing committees, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, to prevent further cuts to Medicaid. We will also continue working with SCDHHS Director Tony Keck to identify cost saving measures such as our efforts underway to reduce the number of low birth weight babies.
This week the Senate's powerful budget writing committee, the Finance Committee, heard the FY2012-13 Revenue and Economic Outlook from Frank Rainwater, Chief Economist for Board of Economic Advisors. Les Boles, Director of Office of State Budget, also presented a preliminary FY2012-13 budget outlook to the Committee. This information can be accessed at Senate Finance Meeting Handouts.
CERTIFICATE OF NEED
Another major issue for SCHA in 2012 is protecting the Certificate of Need (CON) program from being weakened or eliminated. As you may have read on the advocacy section of our website, South Carolina’s certificate of need program is under fire by both the legislature and the administration. On the legislative front, Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of Medical Affairs Harvey Peeler introduced a bill to eliminate the program, S 0999.
Administratively, there are two parts focusing in on the certificate of need program. One part is the CON Review Panel that was appointed by the DHEC Board yesterday. The Panel, half of whom were recommended by SCHA, represents various interests and include the members listed below.
Associations: Tim Rogers, Danny Sanford, Randy Lee, Scott Hultstrand
Elected Officials: Senator Ray Cleary, Senator Brad Hutto, Senator Kevin Bryant, Rep. Murrell Smith, Jr.
Business Perspective: Martin Storey, Lewis Gossett,
Facilities: Small/Rural - Mitch Mongell, Medium/Large - George Zara, Other - Ann Margaret McCraw
CON Attorneys: Elizabeth Crum, Kathy McKinney
Insurance Company/Health Care Reimbursers: Will Schrader
CON Consultants: Robin Gage, Doug Bowling, Dan Sullivan
Consumer Perspective: Graham Adams, PhD
CON Planners: Mark Lyles, MD
DHEC Board Member: Ann Kirol, DDS
Academic: Amanda Williams, MHA
The purpose of the panel is to improve the agency’s internal process by working with users and providers to develop recommendations. Specifically, the panel has been charged with the following: streamlining the CON process, making it less onerous; standardizing the weighting of criteria within the CON regulation; examining the current statute as it relates to the changing needs within the community/population/circumstance; and evaluating where CON should and should not be required.
We see this as an opportunity to educate DHEC Board members, the Governor and the legislature about healthcare planning and the realities of how a free market system in healthcare would impact South Carolinians. Furthermore, we see this as an opportunity to work with our peers to bring forward recommendations that will improve the certificate of need process.
Another aspect on the administrative front is the State Health Planning Committee which is responsible for working with DHEC staff to recommend changes to the State Health Plan (SHP) every two years. Revisions to the SHP must be submitted by DHEC staff and approved by the DHEC Board. Twelve of the fourteen-member SHPC are appointed by the Governor. And while the majority of Committee members’ terms have expired, the Committee is required by law to make recommendations. At this time, it appears that the current members will stay on and complete their legal responsibilities which are deadline-related. Governor Haley may replace the members any time.
PEER REVIEW
Another 2012 legislative priority for SCHA is to strengthen South Carolina’s peer review statute to provide health care professionals the comfort of being able to speak candidly among colleagues during the peer review process. Legislation was introduced last year in both the House (H 4008), by Representative Jim Harrison (R-Richland), and in the Senate (S 0771), by Senator Harvey Peeler (R-Cherokee.) We have been working with trial lawyers during the interim to iron out differences before the bills start moving through the committee process.
OTHER ISSUES
We’ll continue to provide you updates on these priority issues and other important legislation as the South Carolina General Assembly moves forward in making public policy decisions.
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Your Involvement
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We welcome your involvement. We need your involvement. Together we can influence healthcare policy in South Carolina to fit the needs of our families, our communities and our hospitals. |
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January 13, 2012
Issue 1
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