Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Health Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances three bills clearing obsolete code, clarifying Medicaid scope and moving lab rules into statute
Summary
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send three bills to the Senate floor with due-pass recommendations: House Bill 91 (agency code clean-up), House Bill 110 (limits Medicaid from overriding legislative scope-of-practice decisions), and House Bill 198 (moves several IDAPA lab rules into statute and updates state lab fee authority).
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee advanced three unrelated measures to the Senate floor on Tuesday: House Bill 91, a statutory clean-up removing numerous obsolete sections of department code; House Bill 110, a scope-of-practice clarification that limits Medicaid's ability to block legislative or licensing-board changes through policy inaction; and House Bill 198, which moves several laboratory-related administrative rules into statute and authorizes market-based fee adjustments for the state laboratory.
House Bill 91 Alex Adams, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee the bill identifies and repeals roughly 150 obsolete code sections that are no longer operative. "We found 150 sections that we identified as obsolete," Adams said. He described the changes as housekeeping that will not change current services and said the fiscal impact is zero.
Committee members asked specifically about assisted-living inspection language and how HB 91 interacts with other legislation; Adams said staff coordinated with the sponsor of a residential assisted-living bill to avoid unintentionally repealing newly updated sections. Senator Harris moved and Senator Keiser seconded the motion to send HB 91 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
House Bill 110 Senator Seiderfeld presented House Bill 110, which would make clear that the legislature and professional licensing boards set scopes of practice and that Medicaid policy should not be used to veto those legislative decisions. "This does not mean Medicaid has to cover new services, just that Medicaid is no longer in the position of vetoing legislative decisions through inaction in their own rules or policies," Seiderfeld said. He added the Department of Health and Welfare reviewed the bill and reported no objections. The committee moved HB 110 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation by voice vote.
House Bill 198 Senator Carl Bjerke presented House Bill 198, which moves several IDAPA rules for clinical and drinking-water laboratories, clandestine drug-lab cleanup and state laboratory fees into statute. Bjerke said the bill does not add regulatory burden beyond current rule requirements; one change (section 12) would authorize the state lab to raise testing fees to market rates to avoid disadvantaging private providers. Senator Shippey moved and Senator Wintrow seconded sending HB 198 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the committee approved by voice vote.
The three bills will proceed to the Senate floor; committee discussion noted coordination with affected stakeholders and that HB 91 and HB 198 are principally administrative housekeeping and regulatory placement changes.
Ending: Each bill carries the committee's due-pass recommendation; sponsors and committee staff noted coordination to avoid unintended impacts on licensure or service delivery and emphasized that HB 91 had no fiscal effect as presented.
