KMS Legislative Update: 2022 regular session adjourns
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo:
The Kansas Legislature adjourned the main portion of the 2022 regular session in the early hours of Saturday morning. Lawmakers will reconvene April 25 for a few days to wrap up any unfinished business and consider any bills vetoed by the Governor.
Among the contentious issues passed by lawmakers this week was the APRN bill, Senate Substitute for House Bill 2279.
KMS Legislative Update: APRN bill moves to conference committee
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo:
On Tuesday, the Kansas House voted to non-concur with the Senate Substitute for House Bill 2279, which would amend the APRN practice statute to permit the prescribing of drugs without a collaborative practice agreement with a physician. The bill, which did not have a public hearing in the Senate on its specific provisions, represents a significant change in health care law which needs more thorough vetting. The House signaled they agreed by voting 91-26 to send it to the conference committee for further consideration.
KMS Legislative Update: APRN bill and more
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo:
After March 18, the regular session of the Legislature should be over for the most part. Then begins the process of reconciling bills in conference committees and in final floor vote activity. After the coming week there will likely be few (if any) new bills considered in 2022. Last week, the Senate voted to approve Senate Substitute for House Bill 2279 (the so-called APRN bill), which would amend the APRN practice statute to permit the prescribing of drugs without a collaborative practice agreement with a physician. While the bill’s impact is limited to prescribing, KMS believes that the prescribing of drugs is fundamental to the practice of medicine, and cannot be simply and safely parsed out to non-physician practitioners working without the collaboration or involvement of physicians.
Call to action: Help your legislators understand the difference between a physician and a nurse
From Rachelle Colombo, KMS Executive Director:
This KMS update is to ask you — yet again — to take a moment now to remind Kansas lawmakers of what they need to know as they consider what would be sweeping legislation, now under consideration, implicating the practice of medicine in our state. HB 2279 would amend Kansas's advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) authorized scope of practice statute to permit their prescribing of drugs without a collaborative practice agreement (CPA) with a physician, among other things.
KMS Update: Legislature enters second half of 2022 session
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo:
Yesterday the Legislature began the second half of its 2022 session. That means most bills that have not already been passed by their originating chamber are unlikely to receive further consideration this year.
Among the bills that are still very much alive this session is HB 2279, which would amend the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) authorized scope of practice statute to permit the prescribing of drugs without a collaborative practice agreement (CPA) with a physician; it would also require such nurses to carry an unspecified level of liability insurance.
KMS Update: Senate health committee advances APRN bill
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo
Today the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee approved a bill that would allow nurse practitioners (APRNs) to prescribe drugs and practice without collaborative practice agreements.
KMS Update: APRN independent practice bill advancing – please contact your Senator to urge opposition
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo:
It was another busy week in the Legislature leading up to its first major deadline — Turnaround Day on Feb. 24 — when most bills must be passed out of their originating chamber to receive further consideration.
KMS Update: A tumultuous week in the Legislature
From KMS Executive Director Rachelle Colombo:
If you followed much of the media coverage of the Kansas legislature this week, you know just how tumultuous of a week it was. As we’ve detailed in previous legislative updates: this is an election year; it’s also a once-in-a-decade re-drawing of legislative and congressional districts; and the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be politically contentious. Each of these factors introduces variables into the legislative process that make this session particularly unpredictable.
KMS Update: Legislative update; Advocacy Day survey; oral antivirals availability
A message from Rachelle Colombo
Thank you everyone who was able to attend the first annual KMS Advocacy Day last week. We recognize how difficult it is to take time away from practice and to navigate events in this environment. We were pleased to have a strong showing of physicians representing more than a dozen specialties join together to learn about legislation and meet with elected officials to advocate for the profession. In a time when so many proposals impact patient access and care, it is critical that physicians have relationships with their Representatives and Senators and can serve as a trusted source of factual information.
KMS Update: Successful first Advocacy Day; Legislative activity likely to pick up as first deadline approaches
A look back at the first annual Advocacy Day
Last week, KMS and more than a dozen specialty societies hosted our first annual Advocacy Day. About 60 physicians, PAs, and medical students attended along with staff and guests from partner organizations — including from the event’s four generous sponsors: KAMMCO, HealthyBlue, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, and UnitedHealthcare.
