PDMP Passes Senate with Major Changes

Yesterday the Senate passed Rep. Holly Rehder's PDMP bill, HB 90, by a vote of 22 to 9. Several major, and problematic, changes were made to the bill during the lengthy debate. The bill now requires prescribers to use the PDMP except in certain instances, such as medical emergencies, when treating terminal patients, or in hospitals as long as the prescriber or attending checks the program once after a patient's admission. Requiring prescribers to use the system was the agreement made with Sen. Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph) so he would not block the bill, though several hours were spent working on the exceptions to this provision.

Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee's Summit) added an amendment requiring data to be purged from the system after 180 days. Sen. Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan), the Senate handler, said this would limit the PDMP's effectiveness by reducing the information available to doctors. Providers accessing the database will have to complete a department-approved training course before using. Language was also added sunsetting the program after six years if not reauthorized and limiting the PDMP to only opioids and benzodiazepine.

The bill now returns to the House where they can accept the Senate's changes or send the bill to conference committee to work out the differences. Should the language be adopted as is, it could inhibit counties who use a more expansive PDMP system. If the bill returns to the Senate from conference without many of these changes, it's expected that a group of Senators will engage in a filibuster.