Louisville

“This ‘storm chaser’ legislation will help make sure that these families aren’t easily scammed by out-of-state contractors looking to make a quick buck before moving on with little to no accountability for their work,” said Rep. Riggs, D-Jeffersontown.  “Given the tremendous damage Kentucky has seen in recent years – there have been a dozen presidentially declared disasters since 2007 – this law has the potential to save families a lot of heartache and money.”

Eric Bowling, vice president of the Kentucky Roofing Contractors Association, cautioned homeowners not to be rushed when making emergency repairs.  He said there are 250 roofing contractors in Jefferson County alone – and nearly 450 statewide – that can handle whatever Mother Nature may throw at the state.   “Don’t roll the dice and take an unnecessary chance by signing with an out-of-state storm chaser,” he said, recommending that homeowners rely on the Better Business Bureau and local references when making a decision.

Under Rep. Riggs’ House Bill 421, which takes effect in July, families will have up to five days to cancel a roofing contract expected to be paid for by insurance, if the insurance company notifies the homeowner that part or all of the claim is not covered.  Except in cases where repairs are needed immediately to prevent further damage, contractors cannot require an advance payment until the five-day grace period has expired.

Contractors repairing or replacing a roof, meanwhile, will have to provide homeowners a mailing address, a phone number and, if applicable, a fax number and email address.  The contractor also has to give the homeowner a statement that clearly spells out the homeowner’s rights if the contract needs to be cancelled.

While roofing contractors can work with insurance companies in discussing the scope of damage or the estimated cost of repair, the law prohibits the contractor from negotiating with the insurance company on the homeowner’s behalf.   Contractors also cannot offer to pay or rebate part of the insurance deductible or provide any gift worth more than $100 in an effort to entice potential customers.

“This storm chaser legislation has worked well in other states, and I have no doubt that it will do the same for Kentucky families,” Rep. Riggs said.  “It will hopefully scare these out-of-state scammers away for good.”

Frankfort 

The legislation, one of two issues being considered in the special legislative session, is largely similar to what the chamber passed earlier this year during the regular session, which ended April 12^th.  It has the strong backing of law enforcement, prosecutors, city and county officials and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, all of whom testified in support of the bill yesterday before it was approved by the House Judiciary Committee. Governor Beshear, Attorney General Jack Conway and the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Rep. John Tilley, have also been key supporters.

“All of us feel it is imperative to return to our original proposal as much as possible, after efforts to reach a compromise with the Senate in the regular session’s final hours were hindered by the Kentucky Medical Association’s lobbyists,” said Speaker Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg.  “The result then was legislation too weak for the scale of the problem we are facing.  It would have left us with a system less effective than what we already have.”

“If enacted, House Bill 1 will be another major step forward in the state’s push to limit drug abuse on all fronts,” said Chairman Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, who presented the bill on the House floor.  “We just passed two new laws targeting synthetic drugs and meth; we need to add this as well.  Lives literally are at stake.”

The hallmark of House Bill 1 is moving KASPER, the state’s prescription drug monitoring system, from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the Attorney General’s office.

In addition, all physicians who prescribe controlled substances would be required to register – only about a third does now – and they could pay a maximum $50 annual fee to help cover costs if other revenue sources are insufficient.  They would then consult KASPER reports to ensure that patients are taking their medicine safely and appropriately. Doctors would use KASPER to confirm that patients are suitable candidates to receive potentially addictive drugs. The bill also calls for periodic KASPER checks on patients requiring long-term use of Schedule II and III drugs, which include such medicine as OxyContin.  This requirement would exclude such situations as hospice and emergency care.

Speaker Stumbo noted that a 2010 survey found that nearly 90 percent of physicians who use KASPER say its reports caused them to change what they had originally planned to prescribe.  The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, meanwhile, already recommends doctors take this step with every patient.

In an attempt to close down illegitimate pain clinics, Speaker Stumbo’s bill would require those in this field to be owned by a physician licensed in Kentucky, and the physician would have to be on the premises treating patients at least half of the time.  The pain clinics would also be required to accept health insurance as a form of payment instead of just accepting cash.  Together, these changes would keep the fly-by-night owners from setting up shop quickly in a community and replacing doctors who may get in trouble with the law.

All prescribers of controlled substances, meanwhile, could not dispense more than a 48-hour supply of this medicine from their offices.  This provision has been especially effective in such states as Florida, which had seen in-office dispensing skyrocket.

House Bill 1 also includes several provisions designed to increase medical oversight of prescription drugs and greater cooperation among licensing boards and law enforcement.

It calls on physician and nursing licensing boards to set standards on proper prescribing and dispensing practices, and to bar prescribing by anyone convicted of drug felonies, either here or in another state.  These boards would also set regulations on how to handle complaints – which would no longer have to be publicly sworn and notarized – and decide how to suspend licenses when public or patient health is in immediate danger.  In addition, the boards would include pain and addiction specialists, and the boards would have to establish continuing-education requirements on addiction and pain management.

For law enforcement, House Bill 1 would allow county and commonwealth’s attorneys to have access to KASPER if they are conducting an official investigation.  The Attorney General, the licensing boards and the Kentucky State Police also would work more closely to target prescription drug abuse.

Other aspects of the bill call on Medicaid officials to monitor the prescribing practices of doctors treating those enrolled in the healthcare program, and coroners would be called upon to report drug overdoses and deaths to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and Kentucky State Police.  This will be designed to protect individual privacy while giving the public a much clearer picture of the number of those dying.  Speaker Stumbo said he suspected it is three to five times higher than the nearly 1,000 deaths now being reported annually.

“This bill will go a long way to putting a stop to a problem that has taken so many of our citizens and left a void in so many families,” Speaker Stumbo said.  “We cannot afford to ignore it any longer.”

The bill now heads to the state Senate for its consideration.

Frankfort 

This bill will correct damage caused by lobbyists for the Kentucky Medical Association in the final days of the regular session, when KMA inserted last minute language that prevented mandatory use of this basic tool.  It is vital that this provision remain in whatever is enacted.

We now know that doctors who teach pain and addiction medicine at UK and U of L are supportive of having a voice in the critical task of controlling drug abuse, which is why my bill would make them eligible to be appointed by the governor to the boards that license doctors and nurses.  The  KMA’s lobbyists can no longer argue that such experts do not exist or, if they do, that they should not be on the licensing boards.  It is unfortunate that KMA lobbyists sought to obscure this provision.

Working together with the vast majority of health care professionals who put patient safety first, I am confident that we will pass a meaningful bill to make a major impact on drug abuse and addiction in Kentucky. I call on all Kentuckians to support this effort.

“Kentucky has seen its stroke rate improve significantly over the years, but it still remains one of the leading causes of death here in the Commonwealth,” said Rep. Combs, D-Pikeville.  “My goal with House Bill 467 is to see what more the state can do to bring these numbers down even further.”

 Her legislation calls on the state’s Department for Public Health to create and then implement a plan to improve stroke response and treatment statewide.  The department will also establish a statewide database to better track the rate of strokes and report on its findings each year.  Also, stroke healthcare providers will be called upon to better communicate with each other and share information.

In addition, the legislation modifies the Golden Alert program, which provides a quick emergency response when permanently impaired adults, such as those with Alzheimer’s or dementia, are reported missing.

The new law adds those with developmental disabilities, including autism and traumatic brain injury, to the list of qualified individuals, with these searches to be known as “Golden Alert D.”  Those to be contacted by law enforcement, however, remain the same: the local emergency management director, the local search and rescue coordinator and local media outlets.

To help those conducting these searches be better prepared, the state Division of Emergency Management is called upon to expand its training to include information on how to search for those with developmental disabilities who are missing.

“I’m proud to sponsor this bill, because it has a tremendous potential to really reduce one of the biggest killers in the state and to help our emergency personnel be better prepared when it comes to search and rescue,” Rep. Combs said.  “I’m really looking forward to seeing this law be put to use as quickly as possible.”

]]> http://kyhousedems.com/2012/04/02/rep-leslie-combs-bill-to-improve-response-to-strokes-set-to-become-law/feed/ 0 http://kyhousedems.com/2012/03/21/house-panel-approves-relief-legislation-for-tornado-victims/ http://kyhousedems.com/2012/03/21/house-panel-approves-relief-legislation-for-tornado-victims/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:11:25 +0000 Kathy Groob http://kyhousedems.novemberstrategies.com/?p=1026 By Jack Brammer for The Herald-Leader - FRANKFORT – About 100 business owners of West Liberty met with state Rep. John Will Stacy Tuesday night in a downtown park in the tornado-devastated community to express gratitude to the state legislature for its emergency relief.

“People are glad that something tangible is being offered by the legislature,” said Stacy, D-West Liberty, Wednesday morning after the House budget committee unanimously approved a bill to provide financial relief to help Kentucky’s tornado victims.

“This is something to show the people that the General Assembly cares,” he said.

The House budget committee took House Bill 165, a measure dealing with vehicles’ use of headlights when it rains, and changed it to a sales-tax rebate for owners of buildings damaged in the March 2 tornadoes and funding assistance for affected schools and staff.

Under the bill, building owners in all 21 Kentucky counties that were declared disaster areas by President Barack Obama could recover the state’s 6 percent sales tax paid on building materials used to repair or replace any structure damaged in the disaster.

The buildings must be repaired or rebuilt in the county where they were damaged, Stacy said.

The proposed legislation also would authorize the state education commissioner to declare as many as 10 days of missed school as emergency disaster days. These days would not count against their average daily attendance figures, which are used to calculate state funding.

To read more from The Herald-Leader, click here.

Frankfort – 

“The False Claims Act has proven to be a major success in the two dozen states that have it, and the federal government has relied on it in the modern era for nearly 30 years,” said Speaker Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg.  “Actually, its first use goes back to the Civil War, when President Lincoln first implemented it to stop war profiteering.”

House Bill 401 has two main goals: Rooting out fraud and reducing the state’s deficit by potentially millions of dollars by giving whistleblowers strong financial incentive to step forward if state tax dollars are being misused.

“Kentucky’s False Claims Act would extend far beyond Medicaid, which is the sole focus in a handful of states with this legislation,” he said.  “I want to see this used not just in that program, but anywhere fraud with state tax dollars is taking place.  “There is only so much our law enforcement and auditing officials can do and a limit to how far they can reach; this will put every citizen on the look-out for fraud.”

Under the Speaker’s bill, those found guilty would be liable for up to three times the amount they had fraudulently billed the state; whistleblowers will be eligible to receive anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the monies recovered as a reward for their service.  Other civil penalties and attorney fees would be an additional cost for those found guilty.

Speaker Stumbo pointed to successes other states have seen using their False Claims Acts.  In 1998, for example, California recouped $30 million from a computer manufacturer found to have sold the state defective computers; and in 2005, that state got $43.1 million from a company not fulfilling a contract to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment to San Francisco schools.  In 2001, Texas got $14.5 million from a hospital that had filed false paperwork, reported charity work it didn’t do and offered financial kickbacks.

Since 1986, according to the False Claims Act Legal Center, more than $25 billion has been recovered by False Claims Acts, with a substantial portion coming from healthcare companies.  More information can be found online at http://www.taf.org/statefca.htm.

The legislation calls for the whistleblower to begin legal proceedings and gives the Attorney General the option to join on behalf of the state, with that office eligible for a portion of any amount awarded.  Speaker Stumbo noted that he had pushed similar legislation last year and while he was Attorney General, and hoped that “this time we can get it across the finish line.”  He added that both the current Attorney General and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services – the main enforcers of the bill – have helped form the legislation.

The Speaker’s bill could make Kentucky eligible for 10 percent more money recovered under Medicaid fraud.  This is subject to federal approval, but it would let Kentucky receive up to 40 percent of the funds rather than 30 percent, which mirrors the traditional rate the state provides as part of its match for the $5 billion-plus program.  The remaining funds would principally go to the federal government and the one who brought the initial legal action.

He said that the law does not create new levels of fraud, but offers an avenue for more cases to be prosecuted.  It also does not apply in tax-related cases or those solely involving local governments.

“This legislation has a lot of potential, and I’m hoping we can move it through the Senate quickly,” Speaker Stumbo said.  “The sooner we can get it enacted, the sooner we can bring about the kind of accountability Kentuckians deserve – not just in Medicaid, but everywhere in state government.”

]]> http://kyhousedems.com/2012/03/20/speaker-stumbos-false-claims-act-targeting-government-fraud-passes-house/feed/ 0 http://kyhousedems.com/2012/03/16/kentucky-house-of-representatives-donates-more-than-25500-for-disaster-relief-efforts/ http://kyhousedems.com/2012/03/16/kentucky-house-of-representatives-donates-more-than-25500-for-disaster-relief-efforts/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:56:04 +0000 Kathy Groob http://kyhousedems.novemberstrategies.com/?p=1019 Frankfort – Working in a bipartisan manner and with the help of its staff, the Kentucky House of Representatives formally gave the American Red Cross’s Kentucky Cares Fund $25,500.31 today to help the state’s victims of the deadly March 2^nd storm.

“Hopefully, this money will be put to good use in Kentucky and will assist in helping families through this difficult time,” House Speaker Greg Stumbo wrote in a letter to the Red Cross’s Bluegrass Chapter members.  “Unless one has survived the devastation of such an event, I don’t think a person can fully comprehend the emotional turmoil that follows.  Through this heartfelt gesture, all of us want to contribute in some way to lessen the burden of those who lost so much.”

“I am very proud of House members in uniting to assist our fellow Kentuckians who have suffered as a result of the tragedy,” said House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover.

Rep. Hoover and House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins initially challenged the House’s 100 members to raise $10,000, but Speaker Stumbo said it quickly became evident that, with help from the staff of the Legislative Research Commission, the final total would be much higher.  It took less than two weeks to more than double it. “I can’t say that I am surprised, because the response to the request was immediate,” Speaker Stumbo said.  “We want these communities to know that, in addition to this donation, we in the House are committed to doing all we can to help them rebuild.”

HB 495, sponsored by Rep. Larry Clark (D, Okolona), is projected to save Kentucky employers $600 million in federal unemployment tax increases slated to take effect as soon as the fall of this year when a federal unemployment tax credit they ordinarily receive would be eliminated.

“This bill  is the best solution among several considered because it avoids a disastrous tax increase that would raise federal UI taxes from $63 per employee to $420 per employee,” said Clark.  “It cushions our employers from this tax blow and gives the economy two more years to continue recovering before we impose an additional employer surcharge.”

HB 495 authorizes the state to borrow funds to make the interest payments due.  Beginning in 2014, employers will see a surcharge of .22% of each covered employee’s first $9600 in wages.  Revenue from that surcharge will be used exclusively to repay funds borrowed to make interest payments on the federal loans.

“Employee groups and business interests alike recognized the gravity of the situation,” said Clark.  “They worked together, and creatively, to design a legislative solution that will not impose additional burdens on our employers at a time when our economic recovery remains fragile.”

HB 495 has the active support of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Kentucky Retail Federation, Kentucky Homebuilders Association, the Associated General Contractors, the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, the Kentucky Federation of Independent Businesses and the Kentucky State Building and Trades Council.  The bill now goes on to the Senate for its consideration.