LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW The OMA has Your Back in Salem By Ryan James, Oregon Medical Association THE 2015 OREGON LEGISLATURE will consider thousands of bills during its 160-day session, hundreds of them directly impacting health care. The OMA will be in Salem all session long-fighting to make sure legislators do what is right for Oregon’s physicians and PAs and their patients. In addition to the countless bills we’ll track and work on in 2015, the OMA is introducing some of its own bills to improve insurance practices, access to care throughout the state and more. ACA 90-Day Grace Period Fix Under the Affordable Care Act, patients who receive advance premium tax credits through the exchange and do not pay their full health insurance premiums enter a 90-day “grace period.” If a patient fails to pay their premiums in full by the end of the grace period, insurers will deny claims for services provided in the second and third months of the grace period. Even if the patient does pay their premiums in time, insurers may pend claims for services provided during that period. The OMA has introduced a legislative concept to require insurers to notify providers when a patient enters the grace period. If no notification is given, insurers would be required to pay claims even if the patient ultimately fails to pay their full premiums. Learn more about the grace period and find resources to help your practice navigate this potential issue on the AMA’s ACA website at www.ama-assn.org/go/aca. Health Care Workforce Institute Funding The Oregon Healthcare Workforce Institute and the Oregon Center for Nursing coordinate and advance statewide strategies to address the growing health care workforce shortage in our state. The work focuses on data collection, education, and public policy advocacy that supports the development of a robust, high-quality health care workforce. The OMA is proposing appropriation of $450,000 from the General Fund to the OHWI and the OCN for data collection and analysis of the performance and effectiveness of state programs designed to encourage health care providers to practice with underserved populations or in underserved/rural areas. This will help ensure these programs are working for providers and the populations they serve. Learn more about OHWI and OCN at www.oregonhwi.org and http:// oregoncenterfornursing.org, respectively. Virtual Credit Cards More insurers are paying health care providers with virtual credit cards rather than a check or electronic transfer, but this method of payment requires providers to pay fees as high as five percent to receive payment, and therefore to get less than their negotiated rates. OMA legislation would prohibit health insurers paying with virtual credit cards unless a provider opts for that payment method. Watch for more information in your e-mail inbox throughout the session, and learn more about getting involved in the OMA’s legislative advocacy at www.theOMA.org/getinvolved. Watch for more legislative updates in your inbox and via OMA’s Twitter and Facebook feeds throughout the 2015 session. The OMA Government Relations Team: Bryan Boehringer (503) 619-8127 Bryan@theOMA.org Courtni Dresser (503) 619-8110 Courtni@theOMA.org Mark Bonanno (503) 619-8117 Mark@theOMA.org Danielle Sobel (503) 619-8128 Danielle@theOMA.org 18 Medicine in Oregon www.theOMA.org
OMA Winter 2015 Magazine
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