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Committee moves a slate of health bills forward, including foster youth fund, patient‑disclosure changes and pharmacy fixes
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Summary
The committee passed or placed on consent several bills addressing foster youth accounts (HB108), the elimination of a statute of limitations for FGM prosecutions (HB139), patient disclosure and nondisclosure protections (HB164), prescription refills and substitution rules (HB264), and 340B/drug distribution technical changes (HB356).
Beyond the committee’s extended debates on HB156 and HB71, senators advanced a package of largely non‑controversial or amended health bills.
HB108: Representative Fielfia presented amendments to create secured accounts for foster youth aging out of care, proposing to set aside 50% of specified funds; the committee passed the bill unanimously to the Senate floor.
HB139: Sponsor explained the bill eliminates the four‑year statute of limitations for female genital mutilation and removes an education requirement that freed roughly $66,800 annually for the general fund; the committee adopted the first substitute and approved the bill.
HB164: The substitute to HB164 requires health offices to provide patients with Department of Professional Licensing (DOPL) complaint information when disclosures rise to the level of professional misconduct and renders certain nondisclosure agreements unenforceable; the committee recommended HB164 favorably and placed it on consent.
HB264: Representative Ward outlined modest prescription changes — up to two‑year refills for some non‑controlled medicines, removing a pharmacy notification barrier to certain substitutions, and clarifying standing orders — and the committee passed the substitute unanimously.
HB356: Sponsors said the bill provides technical alignment with federal 340B program rules to preserve access to discounted drugs in rural Utah. The committee heard opposition from PHRMA (online) and support from the Utah Hospital Association; the committee passed the bill favorably.
Next steps: These measures will proceed to the Senate floor for consideration. The transcript contains motions and votes for each bill as recorded by the committee.
