In October 2018, Ripley County Memorial Hospital closed. The loss of a local hospital is a blow to the community in many ways, not the least of which is the fact that local residents continue to pay for it. Before it closed, the hospital received funds from a local sales tax. Unfortunately, collection of that tax continues even after the hospital’s closure. Because the tax is written into state statute, it requires an act of the Legislature to stop it.
Senate Bill 616, which I sponsored, repeals the sales tax for the Ripley County Hospital District and allows the funds remaining in to be distributed to qualified health centers in the area. The measure was passed out of the Senate this week and now goes to the House of Representatives. I expect no opposition to the legislation.
Also this week, the Senate passed a measure to create a statewide prescription drug monitoring program. The passage of House Bill 1693 ends a nearly decade-long effort to get a statewide system passed. Currently, approximately 85 percent of Missourians are covered by an existing prescription drug monitoring program created in St. Louis County, but there are many rural areas not part of that system. The legislation passed by the Senate this week would allow physicians and pharmacists to access prescription records through the medical information exchanges that doctors currently use to share patient records.
The loggerhead over a statewide PDMP was finally broken when proponents of the bill agreed to abandon plans for a statewide database administered by the Department of Health and Senior Services and, instead, base the system on existing medical exchanges. The new program will be supervised by a special task force consisting of medical professionals. House Bill 1693 allows access to prescription records only by health care providers. Law enforcement will not be able to see the records and prescription information must be purged every three years.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
Missouri now has experienced its first case of COVID-19, as a student returned to St. Louis from Italy, where the virus is widespread. Coronavirus remains in check in the state, with no known infected person other than that one presumed-positive case. Randall Williams, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, updated legislators this week and continues to describe the risk to Missourians as low. He reiterated the need to wash your hands thoroughly and to stay home if you’re sick – essentially, the same things we should all be doing to protect ourselves from the flu.
So far, Missouri hasn’t taken the extreme measures that some other states have instituted. One exception is within our nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has advised nursing homes to restrict visitation by persons displaying symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat. They also ask senior residential facilities to bar entry by people who have had contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 or those who have traveled from countries where coronavirus outbreaks have occurred. Although the CMS guidelines are voluntary, Missouri’s Veterans Homes announced that they will restrict visits to residents. The Missouri Veterans Commission says it will assist families in arranging video visits with loved ones.
We’ve heard on the news that travel restrictions have been imposed and large public gatherings are being cancelled across the nation. This same level of caution has now reached the Missouri State Capitol. The leadership of the Missouri Senate has extended our annual legislative spring recess by one week. The Senate, already scheduled to be in recess from March 23-27, will now begin its break on March 16. We expect to return to the Capitol on March 30. The extended recess should allow the Capitol’s maintenance staff to disinfect the building and, we pray, allow time for the danger of infection to subside.
Out of an abundance of caution, Senate offices will be closed until March 30. Although we will not be available for visitors, you may contact us by email or phone. Please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol office at (573) 751-1882.