The House Rules Committee met on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.

HB 1037 – Health Care Working Group Policy Rec.

This bill contains the same language passed in the House Health Committee yesterday with only amending the language to fix a staff error regarding a withdrawn amendment yesterday.

View the complete NCMS Summary of this bill here.

Rep. Yvone Lewis Holley introduced an amendment to remove the medical liability language from the bill.

After an intense committee discussion, Rep. Holley withdrew her amendment.

The bill passed unanimously and will now move to the House floor.

HB 1035 – Education Omnibous

This bill does not have any specific health related portions.

This bill passed unanimously and will now move to the House floor.

HB 1043 – COVID-19 Time Sensitive Matters

This bill includes a variety of provisions discussed in the House COVID-19 State Operations Working Group.

Some key health items include

  • Allows the exemption of people wearing a mask for ensuring physical health or safety of the wearer or others
  • A person wearing mask for physical health/safety of the wearer shall remove the mask upon the request of law enforcement
  • Health care powers of attorney executed without two qualified witnesses during the time period of the COVID-19 State of Emergency declaration
  • Advanced health directive for a natural death declaration in the presence of two qualified witnesses shall be waived during the COVID-19 State of Emergency declaration
  • Broadens the telemedicine definition for involuntary commitment to include any platform where the respondent and commitment examiner can hear and see each other
  • Allows a physician to conduct a second examination for involuntary commitment if the physician believes that the findings would not be different if the examination had been completed in person
  • Allows communicable disease information to be available by DHHS or a local health department to present or lessen a serious public health threat
  • Allows retired physicians to be allowed to be appointed as medical examiners
  • Allows State Health Plan premium and debt payment deferral option during a declaration of emergency upon approval of the Board of Trustees

This bill passed unanimously and will move to the House floor.