The Senate Health and Human Resources Committee met this afternoon to discuss two bills, Senate Bill 231 and Senate Bill 42, concerning value-based outcomes for substance use disorder programs and over-the-counter access to ivermectin.
SB231- Value-Based Payment Requirements mandates value-based contracting concerning substance use disorder, requires results-based outcomes for grants, and implements a state plan amendment.
The presenter stated that medical providers who receive payments from programs such as Medicaid could see their payments increased or decreased under this type of value-based payment model.
“The key is to get the right people in the room, and this bill does,” Sen. Brian Helton (R-Fayette, 9), chair of the Health and Human Resources Committee, said. “We want to get to a point in our state where we’re having a good outcome, where people are really getting better.”
“We’re allowing the providers that do more and do better to grow their services,” he added.
The committee reported SB231 to the full senate with the recommendation that it do pass, with the bill first being referred to the Finance Committee.
The second bill discussed was SB42- Over-the-Counter Ivermectin Access, which allows pharmacists to dispense the drug for human usage without a prescription.
“My wife and I both have had COVID, and since our initial experience in the Fall of 2020, both times I took Ivermectin in the early days of my diagnosis,” Sen. T. Kevan Bartlett (R-Kanawha, 08) said.
“I know that my symptoms and my wife’s symptoms diminished significantly within 24 to 48 hours of taking it,” he said.
Senator Tom Takubo (R-Kanawha, 17), a pulmonologist by trade, told the committee that while the medical research suggests ivermectin is not helpful in treating respiratory illness, the drug should be safe in moderate doses.
SB42 was sent to the full Senate with a recommendation for passage.
