A group of lawmakers studying the state's emergency medical services (EMS) system will review a first round of draft legislation next week that includes proposals for tax incentives and an EMS grant program.
The Children, Families, Health, and Human Services Interim Committee also will continue work on bills related to how hospitals determine which doctors have hospital privileges and when conflicts of interest exist among health-care providers.
The committee will meet at 10 a.m. June 10 in Room 137 of the State Capitol in Helena. A subcommittee studying specialty hospitals and economic credentialing will meet at 8 a.m. June 11 in the same room, with the full committee reconvening at 10 a.m.
The draft EMS legislation is based on ideas that have come up during a study created by Senate Joint Resolution 5, which required a review of the state's EMS system. The bill drafts also include proposals for a special license plate and for reduced staffing levels for some ambulance transports.
The committee will take public comment on these ideas June 11. It will then decide whether to proceed with or revise any of the potential bills and also whether to pursue additional ideas.
The hospital-related legislation is a result of a study of the state health-care delivery system that was approved by the 2007 Legislature with passage of Senate Joint Resolution 15. The bill draft involves so-called "economic credentialing," which is the practice of denying hospital privileges to a doctor who may have a financial interest in a competing health-care facility.
A panel discussion will focus on other issues affecting access to health care, including decisions made by insurance companies on which doctors to include in preferred provider networks.
For agendas and other meeting materials, visit www.leg.mt.gov/cfhhs. For more information, contact Sue O'Connell, legislative committee staffer, at 406-444-3597 or soconnell@mt.gov.
Committee members are Sens. Carol Juneau, D-Browning; Rick Laible, R-Darby; Terry Murphy, R-Cardwelll; and Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish; and Reps. Edith Clark, R-Sweetgrass; Ernie Dutton, R-Billings; and Teresa Henry and Diane Sands, both D-Missoula.
