Senate Health Committee advances broad slate of public‑health bills; most pass, one measure fails

The Utah Senate Health and Human Services Standing Committee on March 4 heard presentations and public comment on a series of public‑health bills and voted to advance most to the Senate with favorable recommendations or place them on the consent calendar.

Among the measures the committee approved were SB 314, which would create a DHHS population‑health outreach program on sleep disorders; HB 15, which adjusts the state’s process if federal changes threaten the Medicaid expansion and preserves flexibility to restore targeted adult benefits; HB 468 to require insurers in select rural counties to contract with the state’s mobile mammography providers; and HCR 10, which would add bioidentical‑hormone coverage for PEHP beneficiaries (amended to add the word “perimenopause”).

Dr. David Blodgett, introduced to the committee as an expert on sleep, urged adoption of SB 314 and summarized the case for outreach: "About 35 percent of Utahns don't get enough sleep. That's 1,500,000 Utahns," and "about 15 percent of Utahns have some sort of a sleep…