As bill filing came to a close on Thursday, nearly 1700 measures were filed for consideration this session, most being “caption” or placeholder bills that do not indicate legislative intent. TMA’s government affairs team identified and will be tracking over 250 bills that affect the practice of medicine and healthcare, including the all-too-familiar incursions on the mature minor doctrine, corporate practice of medicine, and scope of practice, among others.
Several Republican-backed measures to add exceptions to the abortion “trigger” law were filed for introduction as well, signaling the legislature’s bipartisan appetite for needed changes to the law. Among those filed were exceptions for rape and incest (SB857/HB1440), limiting the offense of criminal abortion to only apply to elective abortions (SB983/HB778), and the TMA-supported legislation to remove the law’s affirmative defense and make a clear exception for pregnancy terminations done to prevent death or irreversible impairment of major bodily function of the mother, or for the diagnosis of a non-survivable fetal anomaly (SB745/HB883).
Other issues that will be making a return this session include Telehealth, vaccines, cannabis and medical marijuana, certificate of need, and Medicaid expansion.
