Legislative Items of Interest

Jan 31

Health Information Exchange: The House Ways and Means subcommittees continue work on the budget. This week, the Health and Human Services subcommittee took general requests for funding and provisos. Among the requests was one from Health Sciences South Carolina to fund implementation of a statewide health information exchange (HIE). Ken Deans and Dr. Christine Carr presented information gathered from the existing HIE and requested approximately $40 million in non-recurring funds for this project.

Medical Marijuana: The Senate began debate on S. 150, the Compassionate Care Act, Wednesday. The bill would create a legal medical marijuana program through DHEC to allow individuals with certain diseases to purchase, possess, and consume marijuana in specific forms and quantities. According to the bill's primary sponsor, Senator Davis, S. 150 is among the most limited medical marijuana laws in the country. The bill was set for special order in the Senate, meaning they must vote on the issue even though there are objections to it. Debate on this issue is expected to last several days.

Chamber Action

S. 290 (Climer, et al.) - a bill to repeal the Certificate of Need program in South Carolina - received third reading in Senate, referred to House Ways and Means Committee

Committee Action

S. 712 (Davis) - a bill to create the Healthcare Professional Loan Forgiveness Program for physicians, PAs, and APRNs - favorable as amended, Senate Education Committee
S. 508 (Shealy) - a bill to allow for pediatric 'do no resuscitate' order for emergency services and to define its terms - favorable, House 3M subcommittee
S. 907 (Grooms) - a bill to require specific disclosures to a person receiving a prescription for the purpose of inducing a chemical abortion - favorable, Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee
S. 988 (Cash) - a bill to prohibit the performance or induction of abortion in South Carolina - favorable, Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee
H. 4597 (Bustos) - a bill to prohibit discrimination of people with disabilities when establishing priority for organ transplants - favorable, House 3M subcommittee
H. 4599 (K. Johnson) - a bill to add spinal muscular dystrophy to the list of required diseases tested for in the newborn screening - favorable, House 3M subcommittee
H. 4600 (West and Bennett) - a bill to modify the priority ranking for individuals able to make decisions for a patient undergoing electro-convulsive therapy or major medical treatment - favorable House 3M subcommittee
H. 3888 (King) - a bill to study the mental health status of citizens of South Carolina - favorable, House 3M Full committee

Intros of Interest

S. 1011 (Senn and Shealy) - a bill to enact the "South Carolina Parkinson's Disease Research Collection Act" - referred to Senate Medical Affairs committee
H. 4858 (Hardee, et al.) - a bill to increase treatment options for individuals with pandemic or epidemic diseases and to protect from liability the providers who prescribe and fill certain medications - referred to House Judiciary committee
H. 4867 (Fry) - a bill to require narcotic treatment facilities to receive a license to dispense methadone and establish other regulations for their operations - referred to House 3M committee
H. 4869 (Thayer, et al.) - a bill to add an accelerated degree program for registered nurses with an Associate of Science Degree to receive their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree - referred to House Education committee