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House Panel Hears Testimony on Hospital Violence Legislation
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The House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs (3M) Health and Environment Affairs Subcommittee held a public hearing Wednesday pertaining to House bill 4713, requiring Office-based practices and health care facilities to have annual risk assessments, and House bill 4802, requiring hospital emergency departments to install video recording devices at patient drop-off zones.
Krista Hinson from the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA), which represents all the hospitals in South Carolina, explained that enacting a bill that forces hospitals to have annual risk assessments is not necessary because hospitals are already doing so. For a hospital to become accredited they must meet certain safety requirements and House bill 4713 does not add anything essential to what is already being done. SCHA urges the subcommittee to not put a legislative mandate on this, but to focus on issues that are not being addressed. Representative Gilliard, who introduced the bill, stated that violence in health offices and hospitals is "off the charts" and hopes this bill will put the state in a position to be proactive and create a uniformity among hospital safety requirements.
The second bill discussed was House bill 4802, adding security cameras at patient drop-off zones, was also introduced by Rep. Gilliard. He believes this bill will help law enforcement identify individuals that are guilty of conducting violent acts. Krista Hinson, still speaking on behalf of SCHA, brought some concerns to light, particularly as it relates to privacy and HIPAA. This bill can deter patients from coming to the hospitals due to a lack of privacy, especially when concerned with Daniel's Law, which allows a parent to leave their infant in the care of a hospital without the fear of being prosecuted. Other concerns of who has the ability to access the video cameras and what legal action must be taken to obtain the film, such as subpoena or warrant.
The subcommittee gave a favorable report to House bill 4713 and moved to adjourn debate on House bill 4802.
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DHEC Briefs Lawmakers on Coronavirus
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State public health officials held a briefing Wednesday afternoon at the Statehouse on the current status of the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV). In the update, state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell shared that there are no confirmed cases in South Carolina at this time, and that there have been at least five confirmed cases in the U.S.
Dr. Bell also shared that the symptoms of nCoV are similar to that of the flu, showing fever, achiness, and fatigue as early signs. The death rate of nCoV is 2-5%. DHEC officials noted that anyone who has not already received a flu vaccine should do so to reduce severe flu cases and confusion or concern over whether an individual has nCoV.
DHEC shared that the situation is serious and is rapidly evolving, but they are maintaining high-alert monitoring of the virus and recommendations from the CDC. Updates from DHEC on this issue can be found at https://www.scdhec.gov/health/infectious-diseases/viruses/novel-coronavirus-2019-nCoV |
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Chamber Action
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- Emergency Prescription Refills: A conference committee was appointed for Senate bill 16 after the House and Senate each insisted on their own version. Conferees are Senators Alexander, Cromer, and Scott, and Representatives Ridgeway, Spires, and Parks. The bill in either version would allow a pharmacist to fill up to a fourteen-day supply of a prescription in emergency situations where a prescriber may not be available to authorize a refill immediately. The legislation allows for this only one time in a twelve-month period for a specific patient and creates an exception for medication that comes packaged in only 30-day quantities.
- Military Spouse Professional Licensure: The House appointed Representatives West, Caskey, and Ott to join Senators Gambrell, Scott, and Davis on the conference committee for Senate bill 455. This legislation would make it faster for military spouses to receive temporary professional licenses for working in South Carolina if their spouse is stationed in South Carolina. The bill still requires all qualifications be met in order to be granted a temporary license.
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Committee Action
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- Flu Vaccines at Pharmacies: A subcommittee of the House 3M committee met Tuesday and hear testimony on House bill 4663. The bill would allow a pharmacist to administer the flu vaccine to people of all ages. Current law allows an individual over age 12 to receive a flu shot from the pharmacy. The subcommittee amended the bill to have a vaccine advisory board at LLR make recommendations on pediatric vaccination administration. With the amendment, it received a favorable report.
- Education of CRNAs: A technical change to the law regarding the education requirements for CRNAs was approved by a House LCI subcommittee Tuesday afternoon. Current law states that a CRNA must have a master's degree, but MUSC and other programs now offer a doctorate degree in the same profession. House bill 4834 adds, "a minimum of," before the master's level requirement to allow those who went directly into the doctoral program to be deemed qualified.
- Budget Presentations Continue: Subcommittees of the House Ways and Means committee continued to meet this week to hear budget requests from agencies as well as to review and approve changes or additions to provisos. The Health and Human Services subcommittee approved amendments to a proviso which would allocate at least $225,000 to support targeted research and information activities that are intended to identify and overcome barriers that prevent Medicaid beneficiaries from receiving access to telehealth services.
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Intros of Interest
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- Senate bill 981 (Alexander): This bill, dubbed the 'death by distribution' bill, would create the felony offense of drug-induced homicide for a person who unlawfully delivers a controlled substance to another person which causes the death of the individual receiving the substance.
- House bill 4904 (Gilliard): This House resolution designates April 2020 as Workplace Violence Prevention Month and identifies the issue with violence in the healthcare setting. The resolution points out that South Carolina is one of only three states without enhanced penalties for violence against healthcare workers, and that healthcare workers are four times more likely to experience violence on the job than other private industries. SCHA appreciates the awareness brought to this serious issue by Representative Gilliard and the SC House of Representatives. This resolution was adopted.
- House bill 5029 (Rutherford): Representative Rutherford introduced a bill Tuesday which would require any non-profit with more than $1 billion in annual gross revenue who has a reduction in force of greater than 100 employees in a one-year period to submit a report to certain committees about public resources they receive and the reason for the reduction in force. House bill 5029 was referred to the House Ways and Means committee.
- House bill 5070 (Garvin): This bill introduced by several House democrats would put a prohibition on health insurance providers having pre-existing conditions exclusions in their plans. Among other changes to health insurance requirements, the bill establishes that an adopted child is eligible for benefits under a parent's plan in the same way a biological child is eligible. The bill was sent to the House LCI committee.
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January 31, 2020
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