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Authors Posts by Jack Phillips

Jack Phillips

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Mr. Phillips is responsible to assist the association with health policy, which primarily includes member communication and advocacy with the Governor’s office, General Assembly, and state regulatory agencies. Mr. Phillips was most recently at the Pennsylvania Department of State as Director of Legislative Affairs.

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Last week, Governor Wolf signed into law the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act – now Act 25 of 2018. Below is the exact language contained in Act 25:

 

An Act

Providing for outpatient psychiatric oversight.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act.

Section 2. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

“Advanced practice professional.” A person who:

(1) (i) holds a current Pennsylvania license as a certified registered nurse practitioner with a mental health certification; or

(ii) obtains a mental health certification within two years of being hired by a psychiatric outpatient clinic or within two years of the effective date of this section, whichever is later; or

(2) (i) holds a current Pennsylvania license as a physician assistant with a mental health certification; or

(ii) obtains a mental health certification within two years of being hired by a psychiatric outpatient clinic or within two years of the effective date of this section, whichever is later.

“Department.” The Department of Human Services of the Commonwealth.

“Full-time equivalent.” Thirty-seven and one-half hours per week.

“Interactive audio and video.” Real-time two-way or multiple-way communication between a psychiatrist and an individual.

“Outpatient psychiatric clinic.” A nonresidential treatment setting in which psychiatric, psychological, social, educational and other related services are provided under medical supervision. It is designed for the evaluation and treatment of individuals of any age with mental illness or emotional distress. Outpatient services are provided on a planned and regularly scheduled basis.

“Psychiatrist.” A physician who has completed at least three years of a residency in psychiatry and is licensed to practice psychiatry in this Commonwealth.

Section 3. Requirements.

The following shall apply:

(1) Except as provided for in paragraph (2), an outpatient psychiatric clinic shall have a psychiatrist on site for two hours of psychiatric time per week for each full-time equivalent treatment staff member.

(2) Fifty percent of the required on-site psychiatric time under paragraph (1) may be provided by:

  • An advanced practice professional.

(ii) A psychiatrist off-site by the use of interactive audio and video using technology that conforms to industrywide compressed audio-video communication and protects confidentiality under Federal and State law in accordance with department-issued guidelines. Interactive audio without video, electronic mail message or facsimile transmission may not be used to meet the requirement under paragraph (1).

(iii) A combination of subparagraphs (i) and (ii).

Section 4. Regulations.

The department shall promulgate regulations as necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.

Section 5. Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.

Questions, contact RCPA Director of Government Affairs Jack Phillips.

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Today, Governor Wolf signed into law HB 478 – the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act – now Act 25 of 2018. The law will become effective in 60 days.

The law will require an outpatient psychiatric clinic to have a psychiatrist on site for two (2) hours of psychiatric time per week for each full-time equivalent treatment staff member employed by the outpatient psychiatric clinic. Act 25 of 2018 permits 50 percent of the required onsite psychiatric time to be provided by an advanced practice professional specializing in behavioral health with prescriptive authority in this Commonwealth. Telepsychiatry provided by a psychiatrist that is not on site with prescriptive authority in the Commonwealth may be utilized with a service description approved by the Department of Human Services (DHS) but shall not be included in the required psychiatric time. DHS is required to promulgate regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.

Act 25 of 2018 defines the following terms:

“Advanced practice professional.” A registered, licensed, or certified health care practitioner who has gained additional specialized knowledge, skills, and experience through a program of study in that specialty. A person who:

  • (I) holds a current Pennsylvania license as a certified registered nurse practitioner with a mental health certification; or

(II) obtains a mental health certification within two years of being hired by a psychiatric outpatient clinic or within two years of the effective date of this section, whichever is later; or

  • (I) holds a current Pennsylvania license as a physician assistant with a mental health certification; or

(II) obtains a mental health certification within two years of being hired by a psychiatric outpatient clinic or within two years of the effective date of this section, whichever is later.

“Full-time equivalent.” Thirty-seven and one-half hours per week.

“Interactive Audio and Video.” Real-time two-way or multiple-way communication between a psychiatrist and an individual.

“Outpatient psychiatric clinic.” A nonresidential treatment setting in which psychiatric, psychological, social, educational, and other related services are provided under medical supervision. It is designed for the evaluation and treatment of individuals of any age with mental illness or emotional distress. Outpatient services are provided on a planned and regularly scheduled basis.

“Psychiatrist.” A physician who has completed at least three years of a residency in psychiatry and is licensed to practice psychiatry in this Commonwealth.

Contact RCPA Director of Government Affairs Jack Phillips with any questions.

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Special elections produce no net change in state House political composition; four incumbents lose General Assembly primary contests.

By Chris Comisac
Bureau Chief
Capitolwire

HARRISBURG (May 16) – While most people were paying attention to the storylines from statewide and federal primary contests, the state General Assembly produced plenty of interesting primary outcomes, with a few incumbent lawmakers given their walking papers by their party’s voters.

First up, the special election to fill three currently vacant seats in the state House of Representatives.

Republicans had hoped they could go three-for-three, holding two GOP seats (the 68th and 178th legislative districts) and flipping a Democrat seat (the 48th District).

It appears as though they’ll have to be happy with breaking even – but they did it by flipping that Democratic seat and losing one of the GOP-held seats.

Prior to Tuesday, GOP sources had acknowledged the seat most at-risk is the 178th, which was vacated by Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks, to become the executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

Based on unofficial election results, it appears Democrat Helen Tai, a business consultant and chair of the Solebury Township supervisors, is going to squeak out a victory – 51 percent to 49 percent – over and Republican Wendi Thomas, a business woman and former president of the Council Rock School Board. As of 12:15 a.m., the gap between the two was 257 votes out of 11,751 cast. The two will have a return match in the November general election.

The GOP was able to capture the 48th District seat, which was left vacant after Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-Washington, was appointed to the Washington County trial court.

Republican Timothy O’Neal, a human resources director for a Pittsburgh construction company and an U.S. Army veteran, got nearly 55 percent of the vote (5,441 votes) compared to Democrat Washington attorney Clark Mitchell Jr.’s nearly 44 percent of the vote (4,338 votes). Libertarian Demosthenes Agoris, a member of Houston borough council, got 158 votes, or 1.59 percent of the total vote. Looking ahead to the November general election, Mitchell, having defeated Democratic primary opponent Joe Zupancic on Tuesday, will get another shot at O’Neal.

And in the 68th District, vacated earlier this year by state Rep. Matt Baker, R-Tioga, for a job with the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Republican Clint Owlett easily dispatched Democrat Carrie Heath, with the two also winning their respective primaries to set up a rematch in the November general election.

Tuesday was not a good day for a few incumbents.

On the Democratic side, bad election days were had by the Costa cousins – Dom and Paul, both from Allegheny County – and Rep. Emilio Vazquez, D-Philadelphia, in primaries that normally determine the winners of the general election.

On the Republican side, GOP voters gave a pink slip to Allegheny County state Sen. Randy Vulakovich – the only state Senate incumbent to face a primary challenge on Tuesday.

Dom, of the 21st Legislative District, and Paul, of the 34th, both handily lost to challengers who are members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Dom was defeated 64 percent (5,905 votes) to 36 percent (3,920) by Sara Innamorato, who does marketing and outreach for environmental and other progressive causes. Paul lost by an even bigger margin, 68 percent (6,892 votes) to 32 percent (3,274 votes), to Summer Lee, who does political organizing.

Rep. Dom Costa did mount a campaign for GOP write-in votes that could potentially give him another shot at retaining the seat, but he would have needed at least 300 such votes to get on the GOP ballot in November. According to Allegheny County election data, only 291 GOP write-in votes were cast, and at this juncture, it’s unknown if all were cast for Costa. In the 34th District, only 129 GOP write-in votes were cast.

And in Philadelphia’s 197th District – which was the scene of a crazy special election last year that featured a candidate being tossed off the ballot and election fraud charges being filed against four poll workers (three of which have since entered guilty pleas) – Democratic Rep. Emilio Vazquez came in third in a three-way primary contest that included the candidate that was removed from the ballot in last year’s special election.

However, Frederick Ramirez did not win the primary either; instead Danilo Burgos, who had the endorsements of the 197th District’s Democratic ward leaders, won with 37.2 percent (1,292 votes) of the overall vote. Ramirez got 34.3 percent (1,193 votes), while Vazquez received 28.5 percent (990 votes).

As for the state Senate, many Republicans were quietly concerned about the challenge mounted against incumbent Sen. Randy Vulakovich, R-Allegheny, in the 38th Senatorial District by Ross Township Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer – those concerns turned out to be well-founded.

Shaffer made Vulakovich a state Senate short-timer by getting nearly 59 percent of the vote (10,430 votes), compared to Vulakovich’s 41 percent (7,343 votes).

Those same Republicans that were concerned about the Vulakovich primary have also expressed worry the 38th District could be in play for Democrats in November, since the district narrowly voted for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.

That will be decided by a general election matchup between Shaffer and Democrat Lindsey Williams, the communications director for the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, who defeated Stephanie Walsh in the Democratic primary.

Eighteen other incumbents in the state House faced primary opposition on Tuesday – including Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, D-Philadelphia (whose government corruption case has been delayed for years) and Rep. Tom Caltagirone, D-Berks (who was the subject of a 2015 sexual harassment complaint that prompted a $248,000 settlement to be paid) – but none of them lost.

GOP Rep. Dawn Keefer, R-York, was thought by some to be vulnerable – facing two GOP challengers in the 92nd Legislative District – but she easily defeated Joshua Hershey and Curtis Werner, garnering more than 62 percent of the total vote. Keefer will go up against Democrat Shanna Danielson, a former public school music teacher, in November.

Additionally, with several open seats in the offing, there were some fairly large fields of primary contenders for a few House and Senate districts.

The open-seat 82nd District GOP primary (due to the decision by Rep. Adam Harris, R-Juniata, to not seek re-election) featured nine candidates seeking the party’s nomination, with Johnathan Dean Hershey the top vote-getter at nearly 35 percent (2,602 votes) of the total vote; the next closest candidate received 15.2 percent of the vote. Hershey will face Democrat Kimberly Hart in November.

Five Democrats were vying for the open seat of the 112th District, with Kyle Mullins topping the quintet of candidates, garnering 43.3 percent (4,237 votes) of the vote. Mullins will face Ernest Lemoncelli for the seat from which Rep. Kevin Haggerty, D-Lackawanna, is retiring. Lemoncelli lost to Haggerty in 2016.

Things weren’t nearly as crazy in the state Senate, and beyond the Vulakovich result – which featured contest primaries for both the Republicans and Democrats – the only other seat to have contested GOP and Democratic primaries was the 28th Senatorial District, which will be vacated by Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York (who will challenge Gov. Tom Wolf in November), at the end of the year.

The 28th District seat hasn’t been held by a Democrat since 1994, and state Rep. Kristin Hill, R-York, hopes to continue the GOP’s streak. Hill defeated Julie Wheeler, with 65.4 percent (14,238 votes) of the total vote. Looking to put the district back in the Democrats’ column is Judith McCormick Higgins, a former adjunct instructor at Penn State York and a 17-year member of the Eastern York School Board of Directors, who defeated West York Mayor Shawn Mauck with 57.7 percent (5,601 votes) of the vote.

Further questions may be directed to Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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Several female candidates, all Democrats, have good chances to win seats in Congress.

By Chris Comisac
Bureau Chief
Capitolwire

HARRISBURG (May 16) – When you’ve got 84 candidates and 21 contested primaries for 18 congressional seats, there are going to be lots of prospective candidates looking for other things to do with their time come today, a day after the primary election.

Seven of Pennsylvania’s 18 seats are open, and that generated plenty of interest from candidates of both major political parties, although more so by Democrats.

On the Democratic side of the ledger, there were eight primary contests with at least three candidates.

The most candidates (10) were found in the 5th Congressional District, which saw Mary Gay Scanlon win her party’s nomination with about 28.4 percent of the total vote, according to unofficial election results.

The 5th is one of those open seat districts (with much of it having been previously represented by GOP U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, who recently resigned following sexual misconduct allegations) and Scanlon will face off in November against Pearl Kim – the only Republican candidate in the 5th on Tuesday – for a seat many expect the Democrats to easily win.

The largest crowd of GOP candidates was in the very Republican 13th District (which, for the most part, is the old 9th District from which GOP Rep. Bill Shuster is retiring), and it appears physician John Joyce – with just shy of 22 percent of the vote – outlasted seven other candidates that featured a sitting state senator (Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair) and a sitting state representative (Rep. Stephen Bloom, R-Cumberland). Joyce will face Democrat Brent Ottaway in November.

Unlike her GOP colleagues, state Rep. Madeline Dean, D-Montgomery, was successful with her congressional bid, easily dispatching – with 72.6 percent of the vote – former Congressman Joe Hoeffel and gun control activist Shira Goodman in the Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District. Dean will face Republican Daniel David in the general election for the open seat, which, like the 5th, Democrats are expected to win.

State Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware – the only other sitting Democratic state legislator to have a go at Congress – was a non-factor in the aforementioned 5th District Democratic primary won by Scanlon.

A few more Republican state lawmakers went at it in the GOP primary for the fairly Republican 14th District, which contains a significant chunk of the old 18th District, which state Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny, lost to Democrat Conor Lamb in a recent special election to fill the short-term vacancy left by the resignation of GOP U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy.

Saccone lost the district again, this time to primary opponent state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Allegheny, who received nearly 55.3 percent of the vote. Reschenthaler will face Democrat Bibiana Boerio, who got roughly 44.3 percent of the vote in a four-way primary.

Two other open seats featured somewhat unpredictable contests – well, at least three of the four primaries in the two districts had the potential for some volatility, what with a total of 14 candidates between the two parties .

In the Lehigh Valley 7th District, which contains portions of the old 15th District from which GOP U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent just resigned, Republicans have a nail-biter between Dean Browning and Marty Nothstein, with Nothstein appearing to have won with 50.5 percent of the vote (16,000 votes) to Browning’s 49.5 percent (15,696 votes).

If those figures hold, Nothstein would face in the general election Democrat Susan Ellis Wild, who emerged from a six-way contest with 33.3 percent of the vote (15,001 votes), with the next closest candidate being John Morganelli (13,565 votes, or 30.1 percent)

And the open 9th District, which has a decent chunk of the old 1tth District from which GOP U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta is retiring (and maybe for a new job in the U.S. Senate), produced an easy primary win for former state Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser, who got nearly 53 percent of the vote. It was only slightly closer on the Democratic side, with former state Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff pulling 40.7 percent of the overall Democratic primary vote. So, the 9th District general election will feature a matchup between two former state cabinet members (but for different governors).

Here are the rest of the apparent general election matchups:

1st District: GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick v. Democrat Henry Scott Wallace

2nd District: Democratic U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle v. Republican David Torres

3rd District: Democratic U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans v. Republican Bryan Leib

6th District: Republican Greg McCauley v. Democrat Chrissy Houlahan

8th District: Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright v. Republican John Chrin

10th District: GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Perry v. Democrat George Scott

11th District: GOP U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker v. Democrat Jessica King

12th District: GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Marino v. Democrat Marc Friedenberg

15th District: GOP U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson v. Democrat Susan Boser

16th District: GOP U.S. Rep. George Kelly v. Democrat Ron DiNicola

17th District: GOP U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus v. Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb

18th District: Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, unopposed

Also noteworthy is that seven of the candidates in the 18 districts are women (all but one are Democrats), with at least one woman guaranteed to be elected to Congress (since the 5th District features a matchup of two women) and three others in districts that favor the Democratic candidate.

Further questions may be directed to Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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Earlier this week, RCPA staff attended the 2018 Pennsylvania Interagency Conference in State College, PA. During this event, RCPA was made aware of the following two upcoming conferences on suicide prevention, also to be held during the month of May:

  • State Suicide Prevention Conference on Thursday, May 10 & Friday, May 11 at the Best Western Premier – Harrisburg. Full conference information can be found by visiting this web page.
  • Higher Education Suicide Prevention Conference on Monday, May 21 & Tuesday, May 22 at the Penn Stater – State College. Full conference information can be found here.

Further questions may be directed to Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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The Bureau of Professional & Occupational Affairs has posted the following notice to all professional licensees on the board websites:

IN ADDITION TO ANY EXISTING REPORTING REQUIRED BY A SPECIFIC BOARD OR COMMISSION, EFFECTIVE APRIL 16, 2018, PURSUANT TO ACT 6 of 2018, any person holding a license, registration, certificate or permit issued by a licensing Board or Commission under the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs shall notify the appropriate licensing board/commission within 30 days of the occurrence of any of the following:

  1. a disciplinary action taken by a licensing agency of another jurisdiction.
  2. a finding or verdict of guilt, an admission of guilt, a plea of nolo contendere, probation without verdict, disposition in lieu of trial or an accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) of any felony or misdemeanor offense.

To report a disciplinary action or criminal matter AS SET FORTH ABOVE, log in to the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) and select “MANDATORY REPORTING BY LICENSEES” under the heading “licensing services.”

Source: The Act of February 15, 2018 (P.L. 14, No. 6) (Act 6 of 2018). Act 6 of 2018 can be viewed here.

Contact RCPA Director of Government Affairs Jack Phillips with any questions.

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On Wednesday, April 25, the State Senate passed HB 478 – the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act – unanimously (49–0). The Senate made technical amendments to the bill, so the bill will now be sent back to the House for a concurrence vote. Once the House votes to concur with the Senate amendments, the bill will head to the Governor’s desk for his signature. The bill was introduced by Rep. Tina Pickett (R – Bradford) after being contacted by RCPA members in her district. RCPA worked with Rep. Pickett, Garth Shipman, Executive Director of the House Insurance Committee, Senator Lisa Baker (R–Luzerne), and Mike Cortez, Executive Director of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee through the legislative process.

Under this legislation, an outpatient psychiatric clinic is required to have a psychiatrist on site for two (2) hours of psychiatric time per week for each full-time equivalent treatment staff member employed by the outpatient psychiatric clinic. HB 478 permits 50 percent of the required onsite psychiatric time be provided by an advanced practice professional specializing in behavioral health with prescriptive authority in this Commonwealth. Telepsychiatry provided by a psychiatrist that is not on site with prescriptive authority in the Commonwealth may be utilized with a service description approved by the Department of Human Services (DHS) but shall not be included in the required psychiatric time required. DHS is directed to promulgate regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.

HB 478 defines the following terms:

“Advanced practice professional.” A registered, licensed, or certified health care practitioner who has gained additional specialized knowledge, skills, and experience through a program of study in that specialty. A person who:

  1. (I) holds a current Pennsylvania license as a certified registered nurse practitioner with a mental health certification; or

    (II) obtains a mental health certification within two years of being hired by a psychiatric outpatient clinic or within two years of the effective date of this section, whichever is later; or

  1. (I) holds a current Pennsylvania license as a physician assistant with a mental health certification; or

    (II) obtains a mental health certification within two years of being hired by a psychiatric outpatient clinic or within two years of the effective date of this section, whichever is later.

“Full-time equivalent.” Thirty-seven and one-half hours per week.

“Interactive Audio and Video.” Real-time two-way or multiple-way communication between a psychiatrist and an individual.

“Outpatient psychiatric clinic.” A nonresidential treatment setting in which psychiatric, psychological, social, educational, and other related services are provided under medical supervision. It is designed for the evaluation and treatment of individuals of any age with mental illness or emotional distress. Outpatient services are provided on a planned and regularly scheduled basis.

“Psychiatrist.” A physician who has completed at least three years of a residency in psychiatry and is licensed to practice psychiatry in this Commonwealth.

Contact RCPA Director of Government Affairs Jack Phillips with any questions.

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The state House of Representatives Tuesday afternoon voted 115-80 to send to the Senate another attempt to require some able-bodied Medicaid recipients to engage in work-related activity for their taxpayer-funded health insurance. The chamber resumed debate that was suspended on Monday, with several more legislators speaking about the proposal, which is similar to another work requirement bill vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf this past October. Should the bill get to Wolf’s desk, which seems likely given Senate Republicans supported the last work requirement effort, the governor has promised to veto it.

As they did last week during a committee meeting about the bill, most House Democrats during the debate on Monday and Tuesday railed against the bill, calling it unconscionable to require anyone to work for their health benefits, and claiming it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to monitor compliance with the work requirement. Asserting that getting a job could go a long way to helping individuals eliminate their need for welfare, Republicans countered with state Department of Human Services statistics showing nearly 500,000 non-disabled adults receiving Medicaid report no income – meaning they don’t work – with that population representing more than half of the total population of non-disabled adult Medicaid recipients. Of that non-working population, GOP legislators noted only a portion would be subject to the proposed work-related activity requirements as the legislation contains an extensive list of exempted individuals: full-time high school students; recipients of temporary or permanent long-term disability benefits; anyone nineteen years of age or younger or sixty-five years of age or older; pregnant women; Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients; those in a mental health institution or correctional institution; anyone experiencing a crisis, serious medical condition or temporary condition that prevents the individual from seeking employment, including domestic violence or substance use disorder; and primary caregivers to a dependent who is under six years of age or is permanently disabled. (Source: CapitolWire.com – Under the Dome™, Wednesday, April 18, 2018)

Questions, please contact Jack Phillips.

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by Harold Brubaker, Staff Writer @InqBrubaker | [email protected]

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled Tuesday that the state Department of Human Services violated the state’s procurement code when a deputy director met in Dec. 2016 with two top executives of Centene Corp. about the company’s bid for a piece of the state’s $12 billion Medicaid business.

The 30-page decision by a panel of seven judges, written by Judge Michael H. Wojcik, came in response to a lawsuit filed by UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., which alleged that the meeting attended by Leesa Allen, DHS’s Deputy Secretary for the Office of Medical Assistance Programs, and Deputy Chief Counsel Sallie Rodgers, was improper and gave Centene, of St. Louis, an unfair advantage.

“We are pleased with the Commonwealth Court’s decision and look forward to continuing to serve the more than 1 million Pennsylvanians who have entrusted us with their health care needs,” United said.

The contract at issue in the court case covers the management of physical health benefits. A separate set of contracts covers long-term services and supports for the elderly and disabled.

The Human Services Department did not respond to a request for comment. It appears that the department will have to start over, for the third time, in its bid to award new Medicaid managed care contracts. The effort started in Sept. 2015.

Tuesday’s decision said the court is “limited to canceling the solicitation or award and declaring void any resulting contract” if it finds procurement law was violated.

• • •

RCPA will keep members informed of any further developments. Contact RCPA Director of Government Affairs Jack Phillips with any questions.

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