Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — Legislators ended the regular session early Wednesday with budget and tax issues unsettled but in the final hours raced through a variety of health-related bills, many of which now await signature into law.

Gov. Mark Parkinson, in a press conference Wednesday afternoon, congratulated lawmakers for approving a bill, Senate Substitute for House Bill 2160, that would require the state employee health benefit plan to cover services for those with autism, which could set the stage for the mandate to be extended later to include private health insurers.

The bill also would require insurers to pay for orally administered cancer drugs just as they do traditional chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

Action also was taken Tuesday on a number of other health measures:

• With approval of House Substitute for Senate Bill 200, a new privilege fee will be charged to previously exempt health maintenance organizations. The move will boost state coffers by about $3.5 million in the first year.
• The House and Senate both accepted SB 62, which will require colleges and universities to have plans for controlling and preventing tuberculosis, a disease that has been making a comeback among some populations where close-quarters living is common. The measure was pushed for by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
• Both chambers agreed to House Substitute for SB 83, which will allow for the licensing of naturopaths and allow them to form professional corporations.
• Also approved was House Substitute for SB 262, which will establish a scope of practice for emergency medical workers and create a council to advise the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services on medical standards.
• House Substitute for SB 449 would require that medical gas piping systems be installed by a licensed plumber with a proper permit and that there be a third-party inspection of the completed work.
• The Senate voted 25-14 to approve Senate Substitute for HB 2356, which tighten regulations on child care providers. The House did not accept the bill as modified by the Senate. A conference committee was named. It will include Reps. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita; David Crum, R-Augusta, and Geraldine Flaharty, D-Wichita. Senate members include Sens. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia; Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka; and Laura Kelly, D-Topeka.
• A motion by Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, will likely assure Senate floor debate during the veto session on Senate Concurrent Resolution 1626, a proposed constitutional amendment stating that Kansans cannot be compelled to buy health insurance. A similar measure failed to pass the House earlier in the session.