Omnibus health policy law focuses on practical changes

The omnibus health policy law contains many provisions intended to improve access to care and treatment, better align existing statutes with current practice, and streamline and clarify existing law.

Sponsored by Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-St. Paul) and Sen. Michelle Benson (R-Ham Lake), the law does not touch on human services initiatives. Human services provisions were carried in a separate piece of legislation that did not become law.

Language taking effect May 28, 2020, includes:

• changes to last year’s opioids law, converting the “account” into a “fund,” changing some terminology, modifying fees and modifying council procedures and term limits (Art. 3, various sections);

• clarifying that the cost of a private room in an assisted living facility should not be considered a medical expense that can be deducted from income prior to paying for the cost of institutional care (Art. 3, Sec. 25);

• allowing the Board of Pharmacy to work directly with the University of Minnesota to establish a central drug repository program, instead of undergoing a request-for-proposal process (Art. 2, Sec. 26);

• updating and clarifying provisions related to the administration of the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare programs (Art. 3, various sections);

• during a peacetime emergency declared by the governor, and until 60 days after it ends, a prescription drug order to treat a substance use disorder can be issued after a telemedicine examination (Art. 2, Sec. 30);

• between March 13 and Dec. 31, 2020, “continuing education hours obtained by a licensed podiatrist through participation in an internet live online … shall be classified by the board of podiatric medicine in the same manner as if the credits were obtained through in-person participation” (Art. 2, Sec. 31);

• allows required on-site treatment observation for physical therapy assistants to be met via telemedicine during a peacetime emergency declared by the governor and until 60 days after it ends (Art. 2, Sec. 32);

• temporarily — during a peacetime emergency declared by the governor, and until 60 days after it ends — allowing pharmacists to change patients’ medications to a therapeutically equivalent drug, should the prescribed medication be unavailable due to a shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (Art. 2, Sec. 33); and

• providing that age-related macular degeneration will not be added as a qualifying medical condition for the state’s medical cannabis program (Art. 1, Sec. 16).

Notable provisions, effective Aug. 1, 2020, include language that will:

• authorize pharmacists to prescribe self-administered hormonal contraceptives, nicotine replacement medications, and opiate antagonists used for acute opioid overdoses (Art. 2, Secs. 2, 19-21, 23, 25, 28-29);

• eliminate unnecessary administrative barriers that impede physician’s assistants’ ability to practice in Minnesota (Art. 2, Secs. 3-17, 27);

• require health care providers to give patients their own health information and records within 30 days of a written request (Art. 1, Sec. 10);

• permit, rather than require, medical cannabis manufacturers to operate eight distribution facilities in the state (Art. 1, Sec. 12);

• require the Department of Health to conduct at least one unannounced inspection of each medical cannabis manufacturer per year until a state-centralized, seed-to-sale system is implemented (Art. 1, Sec. 12);

• allow telemedicine evaluations to suffice for prescribing drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (Art. 2, Sec. 22);

• add advanced practice registered nurses and podiatrists to the list of providers who can prescribe prosthetic and orthotic devices (Art. 4, Sec. 115);

• require health carriers to reimburse multi-step dental procedures, even if the entire procedure is not completed because the patient moves, doesn’t show up, changes coverage or loses coverage (Art. 3, Sec. 31);

• allow Medical Assistance to pay for services for persons who have been screened for breast or cervical cancer though a wider array of programs (Art. 3, Sec. 23);

• clarify that Medical Assistance may cover medical services that are unrelated to clinical trials (Art. 3, Sec. 28);

• include tribal identification cards as a valid form of identification for accessing both an urgent-need 30-day supply of insulin and the ongoing manufacturer patient assistance program (Art. 3, Sec. 37);

• authorize pharmacists to administer COVID-19 vaccines when one becomes available (Art. 2, Sec. 20);

• add new controlled substances to state’s list of Schedule I and II controlled drug schedules (Art. 5, Secs. 1-3); and

• allow patients receiving veteran’s disability or railroad disability to pay a reduced fee when enrolling in the state’s medical cannabis program (Art. 1, Sec. 13).

Other provisions in the new law delete obsolete language, repeal obsolete sections, incorporate federal requirements into state law, and correct drafting errors.

The language of the law was originally passed by the House and Senate as HF3727/SF3560*. But on the last day of session it was moved to a carrier bill, for final passage technically sponsored by Rep. Hunter Cantrell (DFL-Savage).

HF2715/SF13*/CH115

SF0013* / HF2715 / CH115