Whirling Dervish

Boy, we were glad to see the end of this week at your state Capitol. Like a waning moon, the weeks left to session are dwindling. We are now down to just six weeks before the final gavel falls on the First Regular Session of the 103^rd General Assembly. These next few weeks are a pivotal time to see major movement on legislation if it is to find success. As a testament to how critical time is becoming, this week we saw large dockets of bills up for public hearing and both Chambers spent many hours each day and night working on the floor to debate bills. We exceeded our move goals by exponential increments this week testifying on bills, meeting with stakeholders, negotiating issues and furthering our advocacy efforts under the dome. Our heads are still spinning.

In addition to passing several bills, the House also took up and passed their version of the state budget. So far this year’s budget is coming in right around $47 billion. Shout out to Rep. George Hruza, MD for getting an additional $5.8 million for new residency slots! This shows the importance of having a physician advocate in the state house. The budget now heads to the Senate for their inspection, dissection, and improvements. The General Assembly is constitutionally bound to pass a balanced budget by Friday, May 9 at 6:00 pm.

No Rest for Insurance Reform

First thing Monday afternoon the House Insurance Committee heard two bills (HB 1126 and HB 932) that would keep insurance companies from establishing or implementing any policy or practice that imposes a time limit for the payment of anesthesia services provided during a medical or surgical procedure. These bills were a direct response to actions taken last year by an insurance company to approve a policy that would have imposed time limits on anesthesia coverage as well as limited reimbursement for anesthesia during medical procedures in Missouri and other states. After weeks of public outcry and pushback they decided not to move forward with the policy change. We want to make sure patients are protected from attempts like this should they try it again. We are pushing these bills forward to protect patient-centered care, high-quality services and fair compensation. Usually, the insurance companies are so brazenly arrogant they always appear in committee to smugly justify their actions. Not this time. No one from the industry was at the hearing. It was crickets from the opposition.

Eye Surgery in the Back of a Van

On Tuesday SB 219 allowing optometrists to perform surgery and deliver injectables was heard in the Senate Committee on Emerging Issues and Professional Registration. This bill hearing was a stark contrast to the House hearing. Senators, especially the Chairman, gave great pause to the notion of allowing non-physicians to perform surgery on the eye. We were just as shocked at the hubris of one of the proponents of the bill who testified that the surgeries she wanted to perform were so easy she could do them out of the back of her van in a parking lot. The feelings we got from the Senate hearing were welcome, but brief change of pace on this issue. First thing Wednesday morning the House Professional Registration Committee voted to pass HB 929, the House optometry scope expansion bill. While the bill passed by a vote of 14—5 with four absent, we feel good about the vote. We are very thankful for the five “no” votes. They were subject to heavy pressure, and a relentless misinformation campaign. Despite the adversity, they still chose to stand with us for patient safety and physician-led, team-based care. Last year this same bill passed out of the committee with only one no vote. This is an opportunity for you to advocate not only for your patients but for the validity of your medical degree. Give your legislators a call and explain to them why your training should mean something. They just don’t seem to grasp the idea that specialized, whole-patient training is not only desired but essential for patient safety. Unfortunately, many won’t realize that until someone in their own family suffers the consequences.

Big Moves in House Health Committee

Like all the other committees, House Health had a full docket this week. They took action to vote on several bills including a few we’ve been telling you about. They voted to pass HB 1213, which would educate the public on the seriousness of assaulting a healthcare worker in a hospital. We will be working closely with the sponsor to get this done. They also created a behemoth healthcare omnibus bill. As of right now, it is a compilation of the healthcare omnibus bill and the women’s healthcare omnibus bill we’ve mentioned for weeks. It also has a sprinkle of new provisions like the healthcare professionals loan repayment program we’ve mentioned before. On a side note, the Senate version of the loan repayment program (SB 635) was heard in the Senate Professional Registration Committee on Tuesday. We think SB 7 will continue to grow like a well-watered chia pet. They were also able to pass HB 710 relating to adaptive questionnaires that we’ve had concerns with for years. All the stakeholders involved conceded to our suggestions, hat in hand, to make the bill palatable. We ensured physician involvement by requiring a physician to sign off on every encounter. We protected existing physician-patient relationships by ensuring PCPs are notified of patient utilization to help with continuity of care. Furthermore, we added provisions to protect Missouri from out-of-state pill pushers like “Hims and Hers.” Legislators, like most patients, see and hear the ads from companies like this and feel that it is not only convenient but safe. They don’t understand the negative consequences like the lack of continuity of care. It’s our job to educate them. Include this in your discussions with your legislators.

In addition to voting on bills, they also heard SB 94. As you may recall, this is the Senate version of the audio-only telehealth bill. This was a consent bill when it left the Senate. Unfortunately, it, like several other Senate bills, was stripped of its consent status by the House. We are working closely with the sponsor and House handler to make the most out of a great opportunity to move some other healthcare-related bills we really like forward. Stay tuned for developments.

Annual Convention Begins April 24!

You may have seen an email from me earlier this week urging you to consider coming to the annual convention on Friday, April 25 to assist with our collaborative Community Care Celebration with Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO). We can use all the help we can get. So, if you can swing coming to Jefferson City on Friday, but can’t make the whole conference, please do so. You can register for Friday-only $100 which helps cover the cost of breakfast and lunch for you and two athletes. Please assist us in demonstrating the distinct osteopathic difference to an underserved population of patients! Register here.

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe is scheduled to attend breakfast with us on Friday morning. This is another great reason to attend. We want to put a good face forward for the DO’s in the state and nothing does that better than a sea of them in front of the Governor!

Since the Community Care Celebration begins at Special Olympics Missouri at 6:30 AM Friday morning, you probably will want to come to town on Thursday evening. Since you will be there already, drop in the MAOPS Annual Membership Meeting. Dinner will be served at 6:30 PM with the meeting beginning at 7 PM. Following the meeting, you will have time to socialize with your colleagues! See you there.

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

Our advocacy efforts never end! We have very few folks signed up to serve as Doctor of the Day. Med Students are welcome to participate too! If you have some downtime between now and early May, please consider volunteering to come join us at the Capitol to advocate some more for your profession and your patients! We want them to continue to see White Coats in the Capitol.