Two of ISMA’s priority bills advanced in the Indiana General Assembly earlier this month. On Feb. 1, the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee unanimously approved a bill to create the infrastructure needed to implement the recommendations of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Public Health Commission. And on Feb. 7, the full Indiana Senate voted unanimously to expand last year’s landmark bill increasing transparency in medical advertising.

SB 4, authored by Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso) and heard in the Senate health committee, lays the groundwork for counties to request public health funding from Gov. Eric Holcomb’s proposed $347 million spending increase over the next two years. Counties would retain the option of declining to apply for the money and continuing to fund their health departments at the local level.

The bill also creates a 15-member commission to make recommendations for the creation of a statewide trauma care program.

The ISMA supported the bill but urged reconsideration of a provision allowing a nonphysician to serve as county health officer. Some senators said they’re backing the bill for now but they have concerns about the details of a plan to require vision screenings for all kindergarteners and first-graders.

The public health bill must still be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee before advancing to the full Senate. Holcomb’s $347 million funding request is part of the state budget bill that is under consideration in the House.

Scope bill heard; transparency bill advances 
The health committee took testimony but did not vote on SB 371, a bill authored by Sen. Jon Ford (R-Terre Haute) which would have expanded independent practice authority for psychiatric mental health advanced practice nurses. The ISMA testified against the bill, warning of a harmful impact on the quality of care. The Coalition of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses of Indiana, which has clashed with ISMA over attempts to give nonphysician providers full practice authority, also opposed Ford’s bill, saying it includes too many restrictions.

The final opportunity for the bill to come to a vote is Feb. 22, the committee’s last meeting date to consider Senate bills.

SB 275, the bill approved by the full Senate, adds seven medical specialties to last year’s law reserving the use of 40 medical titles to physicians alone. The law had omitted allergists, electrophysiologists, geriatricians, immunologists, medical geneticists, neonatologists and pulmonologists.

A provision that would have required medical personnel to wear badges specifying their name and license type was dropped from the bill before the Feb. 7 vote. Bill author Sen. Tyler Johnson, DO (R-Leo), said discussions are in progress to address that issue without legislation.

The House will take up the bill sometime in March.