February 24-28, 2020 ~ Week Three Update

Three Weeks In...

To date, the focus has been on bills in their Originating Chamber meaning that the House of Representatives primarily debated House bills and the Senate spent their time on Senate Files. Thursday of this past week, we reached the point in the Session called crossover in which bills having met timing deadlines are required to crossover to the other chamber.

WMS is engaged with, or following, 44 legislative proposals this Session of which 21 remain active and moving through the process. Active bills of interest to WMS are detailed on our legislative tracker.

The WMS Voice in Health Policy made great strides this week. Our members who all responded to the call to action to contact their legislators each made a dynamic difference. As a result of your engagement, the House passed House Bill 85 - Prescription tracking program rules, which removes the mandatory three-month PDMP check requirement for all controlled substances and limits the three-month check provision for just opioid prescriptions. The engrossed version of the bill that includes all of the amendments that WMS worked to achieve can be seen if you CLICK HERE . Thank you for all of your work and engagement on this important issue for medicine!

Stay up to date with us using our Legislative Bill Tracker . The budget bill has been added to the legislative tracker along with amendments of importance to WMS members.

We still have a few days open. Don't miss the opportunity to be a part of this unique and amazing experience. Contact WMS Communications Director, Whitney Harmon, at whitney@wyomed.org, or CLICK HERE to learn more and pick your day!

Successes and Challenges

Week three was a big week for WMS. As a result of intentional collaboration, meaningful conversations with key state boards, physician leadership and influential legislators, WMS was successful in moving forward important legislation that will remove onerous and unnecessary requirements from medical practice in Wyoming. Seemingly an insignificant change in the scheme of what's being debated in our State's Capitol, this small bill represents significant relief for all of our prescribing members across the state who have been struggling to comply with the mandatory three-month check PDMP requirement for all controlled substances. At this juncture, the bill has been introduced, amended in committee, amended again on the House floor, debated and passed three phases of voting. It now moves to the Senate to start the process again. The engrossed bill was introduced in the Senate Friday and referred to the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee where it will be debated and hopefully passed so it can get its fair hearing on the Senate floor.

Sadly, week three saw a continuation of the difficult and sensitive discussions around women's reproductive health that consumed much of the previous week. Two of this year's three abortion-related bills remain viable policy proposals despite the efforts of individual physicians and a multitude of organizations urging caution against these policy efforts. As stated before, WMS does not take a position on elective abortion out of respect to the diversity of our membership and a recognition that Wyoming's physicians and PAs hold varying opinions and viewpoints on the procedure itself. Our neutral position within the controversial debate between pro-life and pro-choice principles allows our organization to create the space for us to educate legislators about the unintended consequences that narrowly-focused, agenda-driven, legislative proposals create for medicine and Wyoming patients. We appreciate your understanding and support of this neutral position, and hope that every member knows how hard we work to advocate on these bills specific to the components that serve to threaten your ability to practice evidence-based medicine grounded in your vast experience and invaluable expertise. WMS will remain a staunch advocate on your behalf and will be unwavering in our efforts to educate lawmakers around the inappropriateness of government attempting to dictate medical necessity, the components of informed consent and the intricacies of medical ethics.

The House of Representatives debated House Bill 197 - 48-hour waiting period, around noon on Friday. Anyone interested in hearing a fascinating debate among Wyoming's Representatives about medical malpractice, penalizing physicians and so much more can listen to the archived audio. CLICK HERE to download the audio and then scroll to 1:54:00 to hear the debate on several amendments, including one to reduce the physician penalties from a felony with 14 years imprisonment to a misdemeanor charge with one year imprisonment.

Committee Work During Week Three

House Bill 85 - Prescription Tracking Program Requirements Passed Health (6-3)

Senate File 42 - Nicotine products age verification-shipping Passed Revenue (7-1-1)

Senate File 50 - Nicotine products-lawful age and penalties Passed Revenue (8-1)

Senate File 35 - health care claims database reporting Passed Health (5-3-1)

Senate File 38 - Health insurance costs bundled payment study Passed Health (8-1)

Senate File 77 - Prescription tracking program Passed Health (9-0)

WLM Physicians meet with Governor Mark Gordon, State Health Policy Advisor Jen Davis, Governor's Special Council Emily Soli, Insurance Commissioner Policy Director Denise Burke, Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Jeff rude, Wyoming Board of Medicine Director Kevin Bohnenblust, and Wyoming Department of Health Director Mike Ceballos.

 Wyoming Leaders in Medicine - Day at the Capitol

WLM physicians kicked off their Cheyenne session with a day at the Capitol. From attending the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services committee meeting and touring the renovated historic Capitol to individual introductions in the House the day was a great day. What really took it over the top was the opportunity afforded to the group by Governor Gordon and members of his cabinet to convene a roundtable discussion about healthcare in Wyoming, our future challenges and how WMS physicians can remain part of crafting solutions for our state's patients. We were all reminded of just how lucky we all are to live in a state in which the Governor and his team spend more than 45 minutes seated around a table discussing tough issues and committing to working on solutions together.

WLM Physicians Left to Right: Hollie Stewart, MD, Donald Kirk, MD, Giovannina Anthony, MD, Deeanne Engle, MD, Melinda Poyer, DO, Heith Waddell, MD, Tracie Caller, MD, Kristy Van Kirk, MD

Next week will feel a lot like the first week with bills that survived crossover. House Bills that survived the process on the House side will be heard and debated in Senate Committees and vice versa. While general debate persists on bill proposals, the legislature continues work on finalizing a budget document that they can present to Governor Gordon this week. Once they submit the budget to the Governor, he has three days to return vetos to the legislature. The legislature can then override any Gubernatorial vetos with a 2/3 vote so long as they have session days remaining.

Between the process of starting over on any bill that just transitioned from its Originating Chamber to the Secondary Chamber and the persisting budget negotiation and debate process, week four promises to be a busy one.

How To Connect and Stay Engaged



Use wyoleg.gov to learn more about this year's legislative process. Below are quick links to important information.

Daily Calendars including floor calendars, audio streams, and committee schedules

Bill Listing that includes all legislative proposals posted for the 2020 Session

As always, Executive Director Sheila Bush welcomes and invites any and all communication. If you have questions about the status of a bill, want to provide feedback or input on legislation, or want to share your thoughts on any other aspect of the WMS advocacy work, please email her at sheila@wyomed.org or call her cell phone at 307-630-8602.