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Minutes for HB2264 - Committee on Public Health and Welfare
Short Title
Enacting the no patient left alone act to allow in-person visitation to certain patients at hospitals, adult care homes and hospice facilities.
Minutes Content for Thu, Mar 16, 2023
Jenna Moyer, Staff Revisor, gave an overview of the bill. She took questions from committee members.
Representative John Eplee spoke as a proponent of HB2264. (Attachment 1) He stated that as a practicing family physician he lost 9 patients to Covid-19 complications. Because of the infectious disease policies at the facilities where his patients died, all of them passed away isolated and alone. At the heart of it, this is a human rights issue.
He took questions from committee members.
Rachel Monger gave testimony in support of HB2264. (Attachment 2) She said that the resident visitation restrictions addressed in this bill were regulatory requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Nursing homes had to follow those requirements exactly, and failure to do so, resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding, and inevitable closure. As visitation restrictions started to loosen, there were many nursing homes who were reluctant to be as liberal as they could with visitation due to fear of lawsuits, especially after the state of Kansas carved them out of the liability protections given to other health care providers. CMS finally lifted all visitation restrictions for residents, pledging to never again order nursing home lockdowns. It is hoped that they will keep their promise.
Proponent, written only testimony was submitted by:
Tara Mays, Kansas Hospital Association (Attachment 3)
Mitch Depriest, on behalf of Health Care Association (Attachment 4)
Lauren Shiffman testified in opposition of HB2264. (Attachment 5) She told of her Mother's hospitalization from pneumonia last year, after she contracted Covid 15 days prior, and the hurdles she had to overcome due to the hospital policies regarding visitation and treatment. She doesn't see how HB2264, as written, would change what happened to her and her Mom, in any way and asked that HB2264 not be passed without her amendment suggestion, which would eliminate line nine on from page two and all of page three.
Debbie Mize gave testimony against HB2264 by stating that individual liberty and critical thinking are under attack in America today, and this bill is a classic example. (Attachment 6) The excuse of Covid, has allowed more and more power to be given to government agencies and large corporations. Many healthcare policies brought on by the Covid panic have provided dangerous leeway for healthcare facilities.
Carol Daunis testified against the passage of HB2264. (Attachment 7) This bill is called the "No Patient Left Alone Act" and pretends to protect patient visitation rights, but will really serve the conveniences of healthcare providers and provides no real protections at all.
Opponent, written only testimony was submitted by:
Debbie Detmer, Private Citizen (Attachment 8)
Jill O'Connor, Private Citizen (Attachment 9)
Dave Losey, Private Citizen (Attachment 10)
Mei Upsdell, Private Citizen (Attachment 11)
Vickie Vetter-Scruggs, Private Citizen (Attachment 12)
Joyce Whittier, Private Citizen (Attachment 13)
Brett Anderson, Private Citizen (Attachment 14)
Jared Shiffman, Private Citiizen (Attachment 15)
Pam Vetter, Private Citizen (Attachment 16)
Rachel Price, Private Citizen (Attachment 17)
Jannel Munk, Private Citizen (Attachment 18)
Rita Hoffman, Private Citizen (Attachment 19)
Carisa L. McMullen, Private Citizen (Attachment 20)
Kari Sue Vosburgh, Private Citizen (Attachment 21)
William Mize, Private Citizen (Attachment 22)
Susan Cary, Private Citizen (Attachment 23)
Neutral, written only testimony was submitted by:
Rachelle Colombo, Kansas Medical Society (Attachment 24)
Chairperson Gossage closed the hearing on HB2264.
