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FAX ALERT - June, 2007

FAX ALERT
GEORGIA OB-GYN SOCIETY
4485 Tench Road, Suite 2410, Suwanee

June, 2007

TO: All Members

FROM: Andy Toledo, MD, Legislative Chair

What Happened for OBGyn's at the Legisture this year?

• Tort Reform remained intact. We look for a major challenge next year.
• The prompt pay bill (requiring payment within 15 days on electronic and 30 days on paper claims) was passed by the Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives. The Society will push for final passage next session.
• Legislation allowing only pathologists to bill for pap smears (and some other lab testing) was stopped. A House committee will study the issue before the 2008 session. The pathologists continue to push this bill despite the fact that many physician groups, including MAG, oppose this legislation.
• Legislation requiring HIV testing for pregnant women passed. A separate consent and counseling prior to the test are no longer required. It should be drawn with all other prenatal lab work. A woman has the right and may refuse HIV testing. Refusal should be documented in the chart.
• Legislation giving pharmacists the right to substitute therapeutically equivalent drugs (broader than generic substitution) did not pass. Pharmacists and Insurers continue to push this legislation.
• Additional funding for Babies Born Healthy (funding runs out at about 7 months into the year) was included by the House but removed by the Senate during the budget debate. The Society will request 2 million again next session.
• Legislation requiring that a woman be offered the opportunity (but not mandating that she view) an ultrasound and hear the fetal heart rate before an abortion was passed. A signed consent indicating both offerings must be in the chart. Language related to malpractice action, jail time and wrongful death suit for neglecting to offer these opportunities was removed from the legislation.
• Legislation allowing insurance policies to be written without direct access to OBGyns and coverage of mammograms and pap smears was stopped.
• After December hearings, the lay midwives did not push for legalization this year.

Thanks to the OBGYN's who contacted their legislatorsand/or came to the Capitol to testify. You made a difference! For more details on legislation please call Pat Cota at the Society office: 770 904.5294