Idaho Senate Health & Welfare committee approves a package of administrative rule changes, addresses newborn screening, drinking‑water lab fees and behavioral‑​

The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a package of administrative rule dockets Wednesday that the Department of Health and Welfare said streamline existing rules, remove duplicative language, and align rules with contracts and federal requirements.

The committee approved more than a dozen rule dockets by voice vote after presentations from Jared Larson, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief for the Department of Health and Welfare, and department staff. Motions on each docket were carried on voice votes; the committee recorded no roll‑call tallies in the transcript.

The adopted changes include: repeal or consolidation of obsolete emergency medical services chapters; a non‑substantive reorganization of the newborn screening rules; an update to drinking‑water laboratory certification and modest increases to laboratory certification fees; a policy change to emphasize sharing department records with foster caregivers where permitted by law; repeal of a chapter tied to child‑welfare temporary rules; repeal of state hospital fee rules that duplicate federal Medicaid/CMS requirements; removal of Department service‑provider language for substance‑use disorder (SUD) and mental‑health services now delivered under contract with Magellan; and a broad, ZBR (zero‑based review) rewrite of the Medicaid basic plan to remove duplicative federal requirements from state rule text.

"The requirements for newborn testing and newborn screening has been in Idaho code since 1921," Jared Larson told the committee when presenting the newborn‑screening docket, noting the department removed outdated or duplicative text and changed some internal requirements from "must" to "should" to reflect internal laboratory practices rather than substantive program changes.

Why it matters: the package affects multiple groups — new parents, foster families, clinical laboratories, Medicaid participants and behavioral‑health providers — by clarifying what the department will administer directly, what is delivered under contract, and which technical standards the state will reference rather than repeat in rule.

Key items and discussion

Newborn screening: The committee adopted a rewrite and reorganization of the newborn screening chapter. Larson told senators the underlying screening requirement traces to Idaho law from 1921 and that the rewrite is a ZBR effort to remove duplicative language. In response to a question from Sen. Shippy about parental consent, Larson said he was not certain whether explicit informed‑consent language appears in code but noted Idaho law includes a religious exemption. The transcript records no change to consent policy; the rule package restructures internal laboratory and processing language.

Drinking‑water laboratory certification and fees: The Department proposed incorporating by reference EPA Supplement…