Pressure Mounts

There was a notable shift in the atmosphere at our picturesque state Capitol this week. While committees in both chambers still met, their dockets are lessening. The House had short days all week. The Senate had a super late night for the third week in a row. This time it was to give approval to the state operating budget. While the budget advances they still need to sort out few differences. They have plenty of time to sort them out before sending their final balanced budget to the governor by next Friday, May 9.

We met with leadership in both chambers this week as we have been doing regularly all session. It is clear from both sides they are accepting the final stage of session. Time is running out. We are in the culling. Pressure builds to address majority caucus priorities such as abortion, guns, and workforce. These issues will swallow swaths of time for the Senate. All other legislation is competing for floor time against these popular election driven issues. Rumors are swirling—like they do every year—about the threat of a PQ (Previous Question). A PQ is a procedural motion that stops all debate (ending a filibuster) and forces a vote. Capitol denizens have nicknamed them “the nuclear option” because they always result in a complete meltdown of Senate functionality. After a PQ, any further business is impossible. Senate leadership admits the end may be nearer than the constitutional deadline.

Budget Crosses Important Hurdle

The Senate worked overnight on Tuesday to give approval to their version of the budget. Now the budget bills will go through conference committees. This process allows delegates from the House and Senate to sit down together to hash out the few remaining differences to the budget before it is finalized. We are doing a little happy dance that our $5.8M request for residency slots is still alive and well. It is a big deal for legislators to appropriate taxpayer dollars from general revenue to us for this issue. We are thankful they are willing to prioritize the importance of the physician workforce for Missouri patients. Please tell your legislators you appreciate their support and funding for future physicians.

House Moves Healthcare Bills

On Tuesday, the House added 13 amendments to a bill we’ve been watching and liking, SB 7. This legislation started out as an ambulance district bill. Now it has 37 different provisions that touch healthcare in various ways. Some of the provisions we really like include prior authorization reform, a loan repayment program for healthcare professionals, expedited partner therapy, assault of a healthcare worker education, prenatal tests, and mammograms. Unfortunately, the optometry folks refused to back down on their desire endanger Missouri patients. They made a successful push to add language allowing optometrist to perform surgery on the eye and deliver injectables to this otherwise fine and dandy healthcare bill. Don’t worry all the decision makers of relevance to SB 7 moving forward agree with us to pluck out that unwanted splinter from the bill.

Also in the House this week, SB 79 another healthcare omnibus bill carrying some of our priorities is ready for prime time in the House. This bill has all the women’s healthcare provisions we’ve been talking about as well as prior authorization reform and audio-only parity for telehealth.

Loan Repayment Program Advances

Today the Senate gave approval to HB 419. This legislation allows for military personnel to be eligible for in-state tuition for both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It also includes our updates to the Health Professional Student Loan Repayment Program. This update would change the name of the program to the Missouri State Loan Repayment Program. Furthermore, it would allow for more healthcare professionals to utilize the program. However, we protected 35% of the funding for physician utilization. We hope you will all take advantage of this program. We worked hard to secure assistance for physicians with student loan debt.

Advocating for a Strong Finish

It’s not too late for you to get in a little personal advocacy before session ends. Feel free to fire off an email to your legislators to tell them how important prior authorization reform would be for your practices and patients. You can also send them a big thank you for supporting residency programs in the budget. The more they hear from us the better!

SAVE THE DATE: Physician Advocacy Day 2026 will be March 3, 2026!