Legislative Update - June 2020

General Assembly Update
Virginia’s General Assembly met on April 22, 2020 for “Reconvened Session” to vote on the Governor’s actions on bills, including the state budget. The regular session had adjourned on March 12 after a historic election and heavy legislative workload with Democrats in control of Virginia’s government for the first time in almost 25 years.

This year’s Reconvened Session was unprecedented in its own way, as the General Assembly met amid the COVID-19 pandemic to deal with the tough policy and budgetary decisions that the crisis has made necessary. The Governor proposed a package of legislative amendments to address public health, freeze new state spending, push back May local elections, delay the implementation of certain labor reforms, and grant the Governor more authority over certain spending while the economic impact of, and recovery from, COVID-19 plays out.

To ensure the safety of its members, the General Assembly abandoned the interior of the state capitol building to meet in alternative locations. The House of Delegates erected a large outdoor tent on capitol grounds, while the Senate met in an indoor event space at the Science Museum of Virginia a few miles away. Legislators sat at least 6 feet apart and often wore masks and gloves. While some glitches and snafus delayed the work of the House of Delegates, both chambers were able to conclude their business by day’s end.

Budget
As we all know, everything has changed drastically since the legislature adjourned in March. We are now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in both a healthcare and economic crisis. As such, the legislative voted at the Reconvened Session in April to temporarily freeze all new spending in the budget. The language state that these “amounts shall remain unallotted until re-enacted by the General Assembly after acceptance of a revenue forecast that confirms the revenues estimated within this Act.” The legislature will address all of this “unallotted” spending when they convene for a special session this summer.

Special Summer Session
The Governor has announced he will call the General Assembly back into a special session in late July or August to further address the budget after new revenue forecasts are available that accurately reflect the economic and fiscal impacts of the pandemic. It is likely they will also consider comprehensive criminal justice reform. In the wake of recent news events, there have been calls from both sides of the aisle on the need for criminal justice reform.

Next Steps on Surprise Billing
As a result of the surprise billing legislation we passed this session, the Virginia Health Initiative has created a workgroup to develop commercially reasonable payments data sets for the arbitration process. VOS has two representatives on this workgroup, which had its first meeting in May.

Certificate of Public Need
Delegate Mark Sickles, the Chair of the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee has asked VOS to participate in a “COPN 101” for many of the newly elected legislators. With so many new faces in the legislature, there is an opportunity to educate and inform them on how COPN works in Virginia and how it’s been a barrier to patients accessing affordable health care.

MSV Update
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, MSV postponed its annual advocacy summit and has rescheduled it in a “virtual format” for Friday, July 17th. They have requested that all advocacy proposals have a connection to public health and COVID-19. All proposals will be presented and reviewed on the 17th. After that, the Specialty Advisory Council will meet on July 30th to make recommendations on the proposals.

Ortho-PAC
Our PAC is a critical tool in our advocacy program. It allows us to support legislators who are friendly to our profession and issues in the General Assembly. As you know, every year the legislature considers bills that could potentially impact our profession and patients. A strong PAC provides us the opportunity for our voice to be heard by elected officials in the legislature and executive branch. Our PAC enables us to support legislators who support our profession. Please support our ORTHO-PAC and make your contribution today! https://www2.vos.org/forms/OrthoPAC.iphtml

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