The Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources has approved two bills to be reported to the floor with the recommendation that they pass.
SB 4 would allow certain licensed professionals to donate their time to the care of the indigent and the needy in this state for up to seven days at a time, despite the professional only being licensed in a different state.
The bill was passed by the legislature last year but was vetoed by former governor Earl Ray Tomblin due to a provision in the bill that would allow volunteering professionals to gain credit for their time against continuing education requirements needed to maintain their license.
The provision has been removed from this year’s bill by the committee’s counsel to encourage passage.
CEO of West Virginia Health Right Dr. Angie Settle spoke to the committee in support of the bill. She said the bill would allow practitioners from other states to be able to help West Virginia in states of emergency, particularly, such as during the flood crisis during the summer of 2016.
SB 347 would modernize the Physician Assistants Practice Act by altering the make-up of the Board of Medicine to include a second physician assistant, allowing physician assistants to prescribe Schedule II and Schedule III drugs in certain circumstances, elimininating the need for a recertification exam once the physician assistant is board certified and allowing physician assistants to be reimbursed at the same rate as physicians and advance practice registered nurses.
The committee also moved to postone their decision on the last bill under consideration, SB 60, until a future meeting date.
SB 60 would provide for eligibility and fraud requirements for public assistance by requiring the Department of Health and Human Resources to implement work requirements for applicants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
DHHR Deputy Secretary Jeremiah Samples addressed concerns from committee members about untintended consequences of the bill, such as how the bill would apply to counties suffering from an economic depression or how the bill relates to other federal services.
Samples said the bill was originally introduced to address high unemployment rates in the state.
Senate Bills 4 and 347 will be referred to Senate Judiciary once reported to the floor.
