GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
State Budget for 2016-2017 Enacted with Less Fanfare
Senate Bill 1073, a $ 31.5 billion spending plan, was enacted on July 11 without Gov. Tom Wolf’ s signature, in hopes of a revenue plan being passed in the following days. On July 13, a joint House and Senate Conference Committee reported out a revenue plan in House Bill 1198. This bill provides the necessary revenue to support the spending enacted under the Senate bill. HB 1198 was quickly approved by both chambers with no additional changes and sent to Gov. Wolf, who signed it into law as Act 84 of 2016.
The final budget represents $ 31.533 billion in spending( an increase of $ 1.4 billion from last year) supported by $ 1.2 billion in new revenues and fund transfers. The state is counting on increased revenue from new funding streams including, in part:
• $ 431.1 million from increasing the cigarette tax by $ 1 per pack.
• $ 64.6 million from taxes on other tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, loose tobacco, roll-your-own cigarettes and pipe or smoking tobacco. Cigars are exempt from an additional tax.
• $ 46.9 million by applying the sales and use tax to digital downloads.
• $ 16.8 million by increasing the table games tax rate from 12 to 14 percent.
The state is funding several new programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians, including:
• $ 15 million for initiatives to address the heroin and opioid abuse epidemic.
• $ 3 million to implement a Medical Marijuana Program.
• $ 19.1 million annually to transition from the yearly fee paid to the Department of Human Services to counties operating public nursing facilities to the new Community Health Choices program that is intended to provide more seniors community-based services in their homes.
PDA is happy to report our lobbying efforts paid off: the budget passed with the inclusion of funding for Dental Lifeline Network’ s Donated Dental Services program in Pennsylvania. This funding is used to hire two regional coordinators to facilitate the program, linking volunteer dentists and dental labs to patients who are elderly, disabled or medically fragile and otherwise do not qualify for public assistance but cannot afford the cost of dental treatment. The coordinators determine applicant eligibility, link patients with nearby volunteer dentists, monitor patient progress and arrange laboratory services and the help of specialists as necessary. For the 2015-16 fiscal year, 393 patients accessed more than $ 1,237,000 in donated dental services.
State’ s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Becomes Operational
Pennsylvania’ s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program( PDMP) became operational over the summer. The Department of Health( DOH) is encouraging all health care providers to use the system as a means of providing better patient care and to help those patients who may have dependency issues. DOH will be asking providers to“ Take the Pledge,” signifying their intent to use the system on a regular basis.
There are an estimated 130,000 providers and delegates( those authorized by providers to access the database) who will use the system. DOH will soon offer more information on using the new PDMP system, including tutorials, videos and webinars. DOH also offers patient notification posters for dispensers and prescribers, advising them of the
new law and their rights. Please visit www. health. pa. gov for information about the PDMP, instructions on registering and navigating the new system, and to download the patient notification in both English and Spanish.
DOH will begin analyzing data in the fall. It remains to be seen how the state will handle anomalies or suspected criminal behavior. Law enforcement has limited access to the data and will need to obtain court orders for some patient data.
Prescribing Practitioners
All prescribers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were able to register for the PDMP as of August 25, 2016. Prescribers are required by law to query the system when they prescribe to a new patient for the first time only. However, prescribers are encouraged to query the system reqularly.
Dispensing Practitioners
As of June 24, 2016, dispensers are required to report all Schedule II-V dispensed prescriptions to the PDMP system within 72 hours of being dispensed. The purpose of the PDMP system is to increase the quality of patient care by giving prescribers and dispensers access to a patient’ s controlled substance prescription medication history, which will alert medical professionals to potential dangers for purposes of making treatment determinations.
Dispensing practitioners are required to report Schedule II-V controlled substances they dispense to patients within 72 hours of dispensation. A dispensing practitioner is a medical practitioner that stocks controlled substances and distributes the medication to a patient, who then leaves the facility and is responsible for administering the medication themselves.
SEP / OCT 2016 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 7