MHA Today | February 17, 2021

Staff Contact: Daniel Landon or Bill Anderson

After a two-day hiatus for inclement weather, the state House of Representatives resumed operations. One of its committees reviewed House Bill 542, which would authorize Missouri to participate in an interstate compact for reciprocal licensure of occupational therapists. Another committee voted to approve a new version of House Bill 495. The bill would incorporate the use of adaptive questionnaires into state laws governing telehealth services. MHA supports both measures.

Staff Contact: Brian Kinkade

The Biden administration is moving to rescind waivers granted to the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin that allow these states to impose work requirements on certain Medicaid recipients. Recission signals an abrupt shift away from the Trump administration’s proclivity for using Medicaid waivers to allow states to impose new and broad restrictions on Medicaid coverage and participation. Although not stated, it can be assumed that the Biden administration will reject the work requirement waivers of Alabama, Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee that were submitted last year, but not yet approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Federal courts previously have set aside the work requirement waivers granted to the states of Kentucky, Michigan and New Hampshire, ruling that the manner in which the states justified their waivers was inconsistent with the basic precepts of the Medicaid program.

Staff Contact: Sherry Buschjost

The next webinar for participants in the Outpatient Quality Reporting Program is offered at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. The presentation will review the new Hospital Quality Reporting platform and include step-by-step instructions for data entry, access management, vendor management, reports and managed file transfer. Registration is required.

Staff Contact: Mary Becker

Last week, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, located in Clinton, Mo., hosted four vaccination clinics and administered more than 3,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. “In addition to supplying health care providers to administer the vaccines at the clinic, we have implemented our proven distribution process to ensure we can immunize as many individuals as possible in an efficient, safe and timely manner with the utmost care and compassion,” said Craig Thompson, CEO at GVMH. The National Guard assisted GVMH in one of the events, and Operation BBQ provided lunch to all of the volunteers.