Committee sends bill to floor to ensure Medicaid is payer of last resort

The Senate Health & Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 31 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after staff from the Department of Health and Welfare explained the measure’s purpose.

Jared Larson, legislative and regulatory affairs chief at the Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee the bill “guarantees that Medicaid is always the payer of last resort.” He said the bill responds to federal legislation that requires state Medicaid law to specify that Medicaid pays last in the limited circumstance where a service is authorized under Medicaid but a private insurer’s prior-authorization requirement would otherwise apply.

The bill’s sponsor arrangements were mentioned: Representative Redmond and Senator Blaylock agreed to carry the legislation, Larson said. No members of the committee asked questions following Larson’s presentation.

Senator Blaylock moved to send House Bill 31 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the motion was seconded by Senator Harris and approved by voice vote.

The committee record did not include a roll-call tally; the chair recorded the outcome by voice as “aye.” The committee did not request amendments during the hearing, and staff indicated the scenario affected by the bill is uncommon.

Because the change is narrowly focused on the payer-of-last-resort rule in situations involving prior authorization and overlapping coverage, committee discussion centered on statutory alignment with the federal requirement rather than programmatic details or budgetary impacts.

House Bill 31 will move to the full Senate for consideration. The committee indicated Senator Blaylock will carry the measure on the floor.