2021 Legislative Session Report
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UTTAAHHPHYSICIAAPRILN | MAY 2021 2021 LEGISLATIVE SESSION REPORTpage 6 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTHCARE PROVIDER WELLNESS BILLS - IN A NUTSHELL INVESTING, IS BIGGER, BETTER? IN THE TIME OF COVID & BEYOND page 18 page 20 page 24 utahmed.org Trust the specialists. Helping physicians reach their financial goals since 1993. Entrust your financial goals to an organization dedicated to physicians. At UMAFS, we understand the unique circumstances of school loans, insurance needs, career changes, family and retirement goals. Take your financial needs to the specialists. Call us for a no-cost financial analysis today. CALL 801-747-0800 OR VISIT ONLINE AT UMAFS.ORG Trust the UTTAAHHPPHYHYSICSICIAIANN specialists. Utah Medical Association’s Bulletin is published 6 times per year for members of the UMA. All advertising, articles Helping physicians and editorials represent the views of the advertisers/ authors and do not reach their financial necessarily reflect the official policy of the goals since 1993. UMA. Copyright 2021. Editorial Board Entrust your financial goals Wallace Akerley, III, MD to an organization dedicated Brian J. Moench, MD Karen M. Radley, MD to physicians. At UMAFS, Daniel R. Faber, MD Carissa S. Monroy, MD we understand the unique circumstances of school loans, Staff Chief Executive Officer insurance needs, career Michelle S. McOmber, MBA, CAE changes, family and retirement Features Managing Editor & goals. Take your financial V.P. of Communications Mark Fotheringham needs to the specialists. 6 2021 Legislative Session Report Editorial Office Call us for a no-cost financial By Mark Brinton, JD – UMA General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs and Utah Medical Association analysis today. Michelle S. McOmber, MBA, CAE – UMA CEO 310 East 4500 South, Suite 500 Salt Lake City, Utah 84107-4250 Phone: (801) 747–3500 Fax: (801) 747–3501 18 Physician Assistant Bills - in a Nutshell E-mail: [email protected] By UMA CEO Michelle S. McOmber, MBA CAE Publisher Mills Publishing, Inc. 20 When it Comes to Investing, is Bigger, Better? President By Ryan Bladen, CFP® Vice President, UMAFS Dan Miller Office Administrator Cynthia Bell Snow Art Director 24 Healthcare Provider Wellness in the Time of COVID and Beyond Jackie Medina By Lawrence M. Lewis, MD, Christopher R. Carpenter, MD, Randall Jotte, MD & Evan Schwarz, MD Graphic Design Ken Magleby, Patrick Witmer Sales Staff Paula Bell, Dan Miller, Paul Nicholas Utah Physician is published by Departments Mills Publishing, Inc. 772 East 3300 South, Suite 200 Salt Lake City, Utah 84106 801–467–9419 4 President’s Message [email protected] By Sharon RM Richens, MD millspub.com Inquiries concerning CALL 801-747-0800 OR VISIT ONLINE AT UMAFS.ORG advertising should be directed to 28 CME Calendar Mills Publishing, Inc. Cover Photo Credit: Photo licensed by Ingram Image. Design by Patrick Witmer PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE and yet interfaces with all of our subspecialty associations. It makes financial sense to invest in UMA and AMA, in addition to your subspecialty societies. Your dues are an investment in your reputation as a physician, your revenue stream, and representation in legislative and budgetary matters. We need you, and you need UMA. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown improvement in case numbers and outcomes, and we are grateful for your PRESIDENT’S support of the community and patients. UMA is concerned to see that these positive trends continue. As the mask MESSAGE mandate ends (on April 10) courtesy of BY SHARON R.M. RICHENS, MD, UMA PRESIDENT our conservative state legislature, we are also concerned with vaccine hesitancy. Governor Cox has done a terrific job in hank you for all you’ve done to your elected officials have local offices supporting the effort to vaccinate the support the house of medicine easily accessible to you, their staffers state. Please pitch in by encouraging T and one another throughout in those offices are knowledgeable patients to be vaccinated and offering to this tough legislative session. We in many of the healthcare issues, answer any questions if they haven’t had owe a great debt of gratitude to and they are usually willing to meet a chance to get their vaccination(s) yet. In Michelle McOmber and our staff, who with you in their office. You need not our office, we have a patient handout with have represented us well. Medicine travel to Washington D.C. to “make the phone numbers and websites for local is under attack from many angles, a difference” and it really does make appointments with both the hospital and including scope of practice battles, a difference when you show up. This health department, as well as eligibility malpractice, regulatory burdens and grass roots lobbying will become criteria, which is now all Utahns over 16 reimbursement. Your participation in increasingly important as the new years of age. the lobbying and legislative process Biden administration seeks to mold helps keep medicine healthy and health care policy throughout 2021. (It’s There is a silver lining in a pandemic year. vibrant in Utah. Please keep in touch true, the work is never done… and the Patients are reading more about health with your elected leaders at both the world is run by those who show up.) care and asking very good questions. state and federal level, as healthcare Your patience with patients, and your and our communities continue to Please keep up with your membership. encouragement of their curiosity with evolve. If you are interested in a greater Encourage your friends and colleagues referral to reputable sources of evidence- level of participation, the legislative to do the same. We have a considerable based medicine, are wonderful ways to committee and leadership positions flux in membership and rely upon practice medicine and improve public are wonderful opportunities. Your membership and resultant dues to health. Physicians and nurses have individual communications with maintain a presence in government, regained a bit of their patina with the your own local elected officials and and to provide services to members. The realization that we go where needed, committee leaders helps us collectively UMA has a valuable gestalt that can’t be when needed, regardless of risk. too. For federal issues, remember that matched by subspecialty associations, Regardless of your specialty or practice 4 APRIL | MAY 2021 UTAHStill the GreatestPHYSICIAN Profession. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE setting, please teach by example, and drive from his Provo college campus to elected officials, and to the press with encourage the autodidacts among our St. George to make that happen. Healthy editorials, throughout the legislative patients. When they look unsure, tell college students are finally eligible to be process, and through the winter them what you would do if they were vaccinated (hooray! and thank you Gov. COVID-19 surge and current groundswell family, and what you yourself are doing. Cox!) This will make it safer for them to toward vaccination and herd immunity. visit with grandparents and get back to We’re in the 9th inning—may we finish Besides your patients, please look to, graduation parties and weddings. safe and strong(er). and open up to, your family and friends. The last member of our family will be Again, thank you, each and every one of Sharon R.M. Richens, MD vaccinated Thursday, but he will have to you, for reaching out to UMA, to your UMA President Our healthcare professionals can help you navigate the increasingly competitive healthcare market with solutions such as payor & value-based contracting, quality & value-based care strategies, practice analytics, revenue cycle enhancement, partnerships/ mergers, outsourced business services, tax reduction strategies and more. Get real insight from a INSPIRED firm that cares as much as you do. TO INCREASE YOUR INCOME What inspires you, inspires us. 801.456.5207 | eidebailly.com FEATURE 2021 LEGISLATIVE SESSION REPORT BY MARK BRINTON, JD – UMA GENERAL COUNSEL AND DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AND MICHELLE S. MCOMBER, MBA, CAE – UMA CEO he past legislative year—and (appointed to take Dan Hemmert’s do regardless of training and education. the 2021 legislative session in seat after Gov. Cox selected Dan to Your UMA legislative team strives to T particular—was significantly lead the Governor’s Office of Economic inform and influence the legislators, but shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, which Development). Rosemary Lesser, MD your voice to your legislators (identify in turn, was the focus of much of the (retired Ob-Gyn, Ogden) was appointed to yourself as a constituent and include your past legislative year. Six special sessions replace Rep. LaWanna Shurtliff who passed home address) is often critical to balance were held in the legislative cycle. And away unexpectedly in December. the input they receive on these issues. an extensive series of legislative interim meetings convened over the prior nine A couple of new physician spouses Legislative actions often come up with months, with most legislators and were elected to the legislature: Rep. very little notice. A vote may be scheduled essentially all witnesses, lobbyists, and Gay Lynn Bennion is married to James for the next day, so physicians need to members of the public participating via Bennion, MD (occupational medicine, respond promptly to these calls. When electronic meeting connections. UMA SLC VAMC) and Rep. Doug Owens is physicians respond to a Call to Action, CEO Michelle McOmber, MBA, CAE, married to Cynthia Owens, MD (peds, legislators know that physicians are and UMA VP of Communications Mark SLC). Physician spouses continuing in concerned and watching the actions of Fotheringham already reported on the service are Sen. Keith Grover (Provo) and their own representative or senator. You myriad issues the UMA worked on before Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost (Salt Lake as a constituent can be very powerful in and in preparation for the session in City).