Ohio Senate Passes Surprise Billing Legislation
In late December, the Ohio Senate passed HB 388 (surprise billing legislation) out of its chambers, and the bill has now been sent to the Governor for his signature!
In my last alert, I mentioned we anticipated the Governor’s Office being a challenge to enacting this legislation. Enacting HB 388 will be even more difficult now with the Federal Government passing their surprise billing bill in the federal omnibus package.
Today, ERIC is sending Governor DeWine a letter asking for his support and signature of the bill. We hope the Governor will sign the surprise billing initiative, as HB 388 will save money for Ohio businesses, and will ensure a much simpler, more straightforward, fair resolution to situations involving fully-insured plans.
We do not have much time left before the Governor decides to sign or veto the bill, if your company has operations and employees in Ohio, please let me know if you might be willing to help support passage of the bill. ERIC is happy to work with your state government affairs team to develop communications to contribute to the effort.
Ohio House Passes PSYPACT Legislation
On December 17, the Ohio House passed SB 258, which allows the state to join the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact. A substitute amendment was added during the December House Committee on Health.
The Substitute Amendment includes the regulation of massage therapy that was not included in the Senate version. The bill will need to pass the full Senate a second time before making it to the Governor’s desk.
