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| Legislative Committee Report (2/10/09) |
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The 2009 session of the Arizona Legislature convened on January 12. The state budget is the predominant issue for the session, both with respect to a deficit in the current fiscal year (2008-09) of about $1.6 billion, and a projected deficit for the next fiscal year of at least $3 billion. On February 1, the Legislature completed a special session to fix the current year, with substantial cuts to K-12 education, DHS, DES, AHCCCS and university funding. Of particular significance to ARIZOTA was a provision in the original budget bill that would have eliminated all AHCCCS coverage for both outpatient therapy (PT, OT and Speech) and durable equipment, prostheses and supplies such as oxygen. While these restrictions were deleted in the final version, the structure for doing so was to have AHCCCS perform a complete review of all coverages to assess effectiveness and cost. Accordingly, ARIZOTA will put its outpatient reimbursement bill on hold while it works with AHCCCS on demonstrating the cost effectiveness of such services. An additional complication is that the Senate will not assign bills to committees for hearings until the new budget is completed. As a result, no bills have been heard in the Senate, and the House Committee hearings have been moving slowly, with very little floor action outside the special session on the budget fix. Both houses have nearly entirely new leadership. House Majority Leadership is: Speaker, Kirk Adams; Majority Leader, John McComish; Whip, Andy Tobin. House Minority Leadership is: Minority Leader, David Lujan; Assistant Minority Leader, Kyrsten Sinema; Whip, Chad Campbell. Senate Majority Leadership is: President, Bob Burns; Majority Leader, Chuck Gray; Whip, Pamela Gorman. Senate Minority Leadership is: Minority Leader, Jorge Garcia; Assistant Minority Leader, Rebecca Rios; Whip, Linda Lopez. The House Health Committee Chair is Nancy Barto. The Senate Health Committee Chair is Carolyn Allen. Bills of interest are listed below: House Bills HB 2015. County Retiree Health Coverage (Konopnicki). Repeals ban on small counties using public funds to pay for retiree health insurance. HB 2158. Immunization Info (Barto). DHS must establish adult immunization information system. HB 2205. Behavioral Health (Barto). Creates task force to assess the State’s behavioral health system. HB 2207. Behavioral Analysts (Barto). Delays the starting date for regulation of behavioral analysts by the Board of Psychological Examiners. HB 2237. AHCCCS Eligibility (Seel). AHCCCS must verify immigration status. HB 2238. AHCCCS Fraud Reduction (Seel). AHCCCS must contract for fraud reduction technology and services. HB 2324. Individual Health Policies (Boone). Allows health insurers to offer individual policies that are exempt from some mandatory coverages. HB 2358. Learning Disability Designations (Crandall). Changes designations of some categories of learning disabilities in education statutes. HCR 2005. Mental Health Coverage (Ableser). Resolution supporting full mental health coverage by insurers. Senate Bills SB 1014. ALTCS Eligibility (Harper). ALTCS eligibility is limited to persons with income no greater than 50% of federal poverty level. SB 1018. Emergency Room Standard of Care (C. Allen). Medical malpractice standard of care for emergency rooms. SB 1049. Fingerprint Clearance (L. Gray). Numerous changes to fingerprint clearance, including higher level for certain child services providers. SB 1325. Individual Health Policies (Leff). Individual health insurance policies may exclude some mandated coverages. |
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