The following is a roundup of recently introduced legislation and legislative developments affecting the healthcare industry.
1. Conn. legislation proposes capping nonprofit hospital CEO pay at $500k
Amid increasing acrimony over hospital funding in the Connecticut state budget, a legislator proposed mandating nonprofit hospitals that pay administrators more than $500,000 per year pay municipal property taxes.
2. Wyoming Senate passes alternative Medicaid expansion bill
The Wyoming Senate passed an alternative Medicaid expansion bill, which will help form a program that will give assistance to individuals who can't afford health coverage.
3. Senators push for law to help support opioid-addicted parents
Key members of the Senate Committee on Finance are working on legislation to allow states to use some foster care funds to support parents who are addicted to opioids in raising their infants.
4. Freestanding EDs could be harder to open in Rhode Island: 4 things to know
Rhode Island lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it harder to open freestanding emergency departments in the state.
5. Why one hospital merger could be off limits to the FTC
A bill in the West Virginia legislature would allow the merger between Cabell Huntington (W.Va.) Hospital and Huntington-based St. Mary's Medical Center to go through without approval from the Federal Trade Commission.
6. Okla. nurse practitioners want to work without physician supervision
Nurse practitioners in Oklahoma are urging state lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow them to work independently.
7. New draft of Senate HELP committee's health IT bill includes proposal for EHR star-rating system
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions published an updated version of its health IT bill. The latest draft includes the addition of a new name for the bill — the "Improving Health Information Technology Act" — and has been trimmed from 68 pages to 51.
8. Fla. Senate subcommittee passes hospital price transparency bill
The "Transparency in Healthcare" bill cleared a major hurdle in January when the Florida Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services passed the legislation.
9. Nebraska bill to shield sexual assault victims from certain medical bills
A bill pending in Nebraska's legislature would create a statewide fund to protect sexual assault victims from receiving medical bills for forensic rape examinations and other sexual assault services.
10. Assault on healthcare workers a felony?
A bill crafted to help protect healthcare workers from attacks passed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously Feb. 10.
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