Legislative Session Kicks Off In Earnest this Week: Our Positions on Bills So Far

The legislative session kicked off on paper last week – but this upcoming week is really the first set of committee hearings, including the first hearings of the Health and Human Services Committees.

The House Health committee will meet on Mondays at 2pm. Senate Health and Human Services will meet Tuesdays at 2pm. There are only four bills posted in each committee this week. We’ve signed up in support of a couple bills being heard this week including SB1037 which would allow adult Medicaid members to use their $1000 annual dental benefit for more tha just emergency procedures. 

On the House side, we’ve signed in against HB2183 which would entitle parents with the right to receive from a health care entity equivalent access to any electronic portal or other health care delivery platform for their minor child.

While that might sound reasonable, we believe it would pose a risk to kids who are being abused – making even more difficult to get treatment – especially those being sexually abused. Also, other teenagers who are sexually active may be discouraged from seeking treatment if they know their parents have access to their medical records – causing unaddressed infections and increasing the spread of STIs. 

AZPHA has taken positions on about 40 bills so far. A short synopsis of where we are on these bills is below: