On March 25, the Ohio General Assembly passed Substitute House Bill (Sub. HB) 197, a bill to ensure that operations of state government continue and to address disruptions caused by the COVID-19 emergency.
Key provisions relating to medicine include:
- Grants certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), under certain conditions, the authority to perform additional duties or services related to anesthesia care, including ordering and administering drugs and IV fluids, ordering diagnostic tests, and directing nurses to administer drugs. This is a permanent law change.
- Allows for recent nursing graduates to obtain a temporary license to practice prior to passing the licensure examination. Temporary licenses expire either 90 days after the duration of the COVID-19 emergency or 90 days after Tuesday, December 1, 2020, whichever comes sooner.
- Gives the Director of Medicaid additional flexibility to support the healthcare workforce and providers during this time of crisis. Additional program flexibility is necessary to avoid a significant workforce shortage and patient provider access shortages at the end of the COVID-19 emergency. Drafted for future cases up to six months. Temporary provision expires Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
Other provisions of interest include:
- Gives voters until Tuesday, April 28, to mail in absentee ballots for the state’s primary election originally scheduled for March 17.
- Waives state testing and state report card requirements for the 2019-20 school year.
- Allows distance learning to count towards state requirements for hours of instruction.
- Gives high school seniors the opportunity to graduate as long as they were on track to do so before the virus outbreak closed their schools.
- Extends the deadline for filing state income tax returns to Wednesday, July 15, to align with the recent federal change.
- Allows Ohioans with an expired driver’s license to have until either 90 days after the governor lifts the emergency declaration or 90 days after Tuesday, December 1, 2020, to renew.
- Prohibits water companies from shutting off people’s serve for nonpayment.