Idaho committee backs bill allowing family-installed cameras in long‑term care facilities

BOISE — The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 337 to the House floor with a “do pass” recommendation after a roughly 40‑minute discussion on whether residents and their families should be allowed to install electronic monitoring devices in long‑term care facilities.

Representative Lori Healy, sponsor of the bill and a clinician by background, told the committee the measure would “allow electronic monitoring in care facilities” and give residents and their families a tool to oversee care without costing the state. “This legislation does not require government funding; it simply grants residents and their family the right to install monitoring devices at their own expense,” Healy said.

The bill would, among other provisions discussed in committee, allow residents or their authorized family members to install cameras in rooms if certain privacy protections are met; require notice where monitoring is in use; bar facilities from viewing footage without family permission; and include criminal or civil prohibitions for intentionally obstructing or tampering with devices. Healy told lawmakers the measure is modeled on laws adopted in other states — citing “Esther’s Law” in Ohio and about 10 other…