SF 40 – Facility Tanning Ban for Minors
SF 80 – Mammogram Reporting Requirements
SSB 1002 – Physician Assistants and Temporary Civil Commitment Procedures
SSB 1016 – Dental Board Executive Director (Exemption from Merit System)
SSB 1094 – Physical & Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology Copay Equity
SSB 1097 – Board of Nursing Technical Bill
SSB 1102 – Iowa Health Information Network Operations & Governance
SSB 1118 – Anatomical Gift Fund Expenditures
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 40, as amended in committee, prohibits a tanning facility from allowing a person under 18 to use a tanning device. The bill includes a medical exemption for instances when a health care professional provides a written order for tanning for a minor. The tanning facility is required to keep a copy of the written order in its files. The written order expires after one year of the date of issuance and may be renewed annually. [2/11: short form (Chelgren, Taylor “no”)]
SF 80, as amended in committee, requires facilities providing mammography services to include information on breast density in mammography reports sent to patients pursuant to federal law beginning January 1, 2016, if the patient is categorized as having heterogeneously dense breasts or extremely dense breasts, according to national guidelines. The bill includes language that must be included in the patient’s notice. The bill clarifies that nothing in this bill impacts existing mammography facility liabilities beyond the notice requirement. [2/9: short form (Chelgren excused)]
SSB 1002 allows physician assistants to immediately contact magistrates for a temporary order for civil commitment when a person is presented at a hospital or a mental health or substance abuse treatment facility who is found to be seriously mentally impaired and may physically injure him/herself or others if not immediately detained. Currently, only a physician assistant may only contact a magistrate with approval by the supervising physician. The bill aligns medical and psychiatric emergency hospitalization processes. [2/9: short form (Chelgren excused)]
SSB 1016 establishes the position of executive director of the Iowa Dental Board, articulates duties and specifies that the position is exempt from the merit system. [2/9: short form (Chelgren excused)]
SSB 1094 provides that certain health insurance plans may not charge higher copayments or coinsurance amounts for physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists than the amounts charged for primary care services for the same or similar diagnosed condition. Essentially, the bill requires that such services no longer be considered services provided by specialists. This change was made for chiropractic care a few years ago. [2/9: short form (Chelgren excused)]
SSB 1097, as amended in committee, is a technical bill that replaces the term “registered” with “licensed” throughout Chapter 152 (Nursing), clarifies that Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) are licensed, clarifies ARNP roles, articulates Board duties concerning the use of available funding, separates the “education programs” and “background checks” sections for clarity in Chapter 152, removes Board responsibility for the payment of Board-ordered examinations, and other minor technical changes. [2/9: short form (Chelgren excused)]
SSB 1102 concerns the Iowa Health Information Network (IHIN), which is a “hub” that facilitates the sharing of secure electronic patient health information between authorized users. This bill transitions the network’s operations and governance to a nonprofit designated entity chosen by the Department of Public Health through a competitive process. The bill articulates technical infrastructure requirements, administration and governance requirements, composition and duties of the Board of Directors, and legal and policy requirements of the designated nonprofit entity. Existing contractual obligations and any asset and liabilities shall transfer from the Iowa Department of Public Health to the designated nonprofit entity. The bill includes transition provisions that are effective upon enactment. [2/11: short form]
SSB 1118 concerns the Anatomical Gift and Public Awareness and Transplantation Fund, which consists of private funds that are used to support grants for anatomical gift and transplantation public awareness (up to 20 percent of fund resources); grants to hospitals to reimburse costs directly related to development of in-hospital anatomical gift public awareness projects, anatomical gift referral protocols and administrative expenses (up to 30 percent of fund resources); grants to transplant recipients, transplant candidates and living organ donors (up to 50 percent of fund resources); and to support administrative expenses incurred by the Department of Public Health to administer the fund (up to 5 percent of fund resources). This bill allows any unobligated funds to be used for grants to transplant recipients, transplant candidates and living organ donors, eliminating the 50 percent fund resources limit. This change will allow the fund to support more transplant recipients and candidates, as well as living organ donors. [2/11: short form]