House Health and Welfare approves several board fee rule changes, holds others for follow-up

BOISE — The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on a voice vote approved several pending and temporary rule dockets that change licensure requirements and reduce or restructure fee tables for multiple professional licensing boards, and it placed three dockets on hold pending follow-up information.

Committee members approved a final pending rule for the Idaho Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators (docket 24-0901-2401) and approved temporary rule dockets for the Idaho Board of Midwifery (docket 24-2601-2501), the Idaho State Board of Dentistry (243101-2501) and the Idaho Board of Nursing (243401-2501). The committee held for later review the residential care facility administrators docket (241901-2401), the genetic counselors licensing board docket (242401-2401) and set time-certain follow-ups for additional information.

The division presenter, Cecily Metcalfe, board services program manager for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses and executive officer for multiple boards, summarized the nursing-home-administrator chapter rewrite and asked the committee to approve the rules. "With that Mr. Chair, I respectfully ask the committee to approve this pending rule as final and I stand for any questions," Metcalfe told the committee during the nursing home administrators presentation.

Katie Stewart, bureau chief in the division's administration bureau, presented temporary dockets for midwifery, dentistry and nursing. On the midwifery temporary docket she said the board had been consolidated into the Idaho Board of Nursing and that consolidation allowed a large fee cut. "This board went from $200 for an initial application and $850 for a renewal of their application to $35 for their initial application, $35 for their license, and $35 for renewals," Stewart said.

Committee members pressed for follow-up information on several dockets before final action. Representative Rasor moved to hold the genetic counselors docket for one week; the motion passed. Representative Redman successfully moved an amended substitute to hold the residential care facility administrators docket in committee until Feb. 12 for the board to provide a plan and additional details on how it will address its negative cash balance.

Votes at a glance - Docket 24-0901-2401 (Idaho Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators): Motion to approve made on the floor; voice vote — motion carries (approved). Mover: Representative Healey. No roll-call tally recorded in the transcript. - Docket 24-1901-2401 (Idaho Board of Examiners of Residential Care Facility Administrators): Amended substitute motion to hold in committee until Feb. 12 — motion carries (held). Mover of the successful amended substitute: Representative Redman. - Docket 24-2401-2401 (Idaho Genetic Counselors Licensing Board): Motion to hold for one week (to Jan. 29) — motion carries (held). Mover: Representative Rasor. - Docket 24-2601-2501 (Idaho Board of Midwifery, temporary rule): Motion to approve — motion carries (approved). Mover: Representative Redman. - Docket 24-3101-2501 (Idaho State Board of Dentistry, temporary rule): Motion to approve — motion carries (approved). Mover: Representative Healy. - Docket 24-3401-2501 (Idaho Board of Nursing, temporary rule): Motion to approve — motion carries (approved). Mover: Representative Wheeler.

Why this matters The committee's actions directly change regulatory language or the fee structures that licensees must follow; several of the rules were submitted under the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses' 0-based regulation rewrite process. For some boards the changes include removing duplicative statutory language, aligning continuing education cycles with biennial renewals, and adjusting fee schedules to meet statutory cash-balance requirements.

Supporting details - The nursing home administrators chapter rewrite removes duplicative material, clarifies licensure pathways (including adding a health services executive credential pathway), adjusts continuing-education rules to align with biennial renewals, and removes temporary-permit provisions the board said are no longer necessary. - The residential care administrators rewrite reduces continuing education hours to 12 hours every 24 months (from 12 every 12 months) and increases several fees (application, provisional permit, renewal) from $150 to $200 in the pending rule; committee action on that docket was held to obtain a written plan for addressing a reported deficit. - The genetic counselors rules remove provisions that the division's legal review found without statutory authority and remove continuing-education requirements that the board said duplicate national certification obligations; the committee held the docket for one week for further review of an incorporation-by-reference question. - The midwifery temporary rule implements fee reductions tied to consolidation with the Idaho Board of Nursing and will replace higher prior fees with a $35 initial/license/renewal structure; the presenter said the board voted to decrease fees by an average of about 90% after consolidation. - The dentistry temporary rule reduces fees by about 25% from prior levels; the presenter said the board's cash balance represented about 294% of its five-year rolling average (roughly $1.2 million).

What the committee directed Committee members repeatedly asked boards to provide financial histories and written plans to restore required cash-balance levels for any boards operating below statutory thresholds. Representative McCann and others requested a back-history of revenues and expenditures for the residential care board; the committee set a Feb. 12 time certain for the board to return with additional information.

Ending Committee leaders noted that both legislative chambers must approve fee rules before they take effect and that the Senate was scheduled to review similar dockets. The committee adjourned after scheduling follow-ups and completing the day's rule reviews.