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Show partment of Health to grant certain licensing variances to small hospitals located in rural areas of the state. Requires the Department of Health and the Governor's Health Policy Commission to study and monitor the impact of managed care systems on the supply of rural health care providers in the state. IV. Quality. Directs the Department of Health to establish a two-year pilot program for monitoring quality health care in the state. Appropriates $500,000 to the Department of Health to fund the development and acquisition of hardware and software to collect and store encounter level data. V. Medicaid Waiver. Instructs the Department of Health to apply to the federal government for a Medicaid waiver that would permit the state to vary eligibility requirements for Medicaid to expand Medicaid coverage to all persons with incomes below the federal poverty level and to allow voluntary participation and cost sharing with employers and private insurance plans. Implementation of the waiver is contingent on sufficient funding that has not yet been identified. Because of the federal discussion of block grants and potential cutbacks in Medicaid funding, it is questionable whether the state will choose to move forward with the waiver at this time. House Bill 56. Home Medical Equipment (G. Adiar). H.B. 56 exempts home medical equipment and supplies from sales tax. House Bill 78. Disease Testing for At-Risk Public Safety Officers (J. Valentine). H.B. 78 provides a procedure for an individual, an emergency medical services provider, a public safety officer, or a first-aid volunteer significantly exposed to the blood of another to petition the court for an order requiring the other person to submit to testing for HIV or other blood-borne pathogens. Disclosure of the test results may be made only as ordered by the court. House Bill 133. Chiropractic Physicians Practice Act (J. Haymond). H.B. 133 repeals and enacts legislation that regulates chiropractors, including creation of a board for providing licensing standards and establishing penalties for failure to comply. House Bill 169. Hearing Instrument Specialist Licensing Act (A. Bradshaw). H.B. 169 eliminates obsolete language regarding the licensing of hearing instrument specialists. House Bill 246. Medicaid Hospital Assessment Amendments (J. Valentine). H.B. 246 extends the Medicaid hospital bed tax until June 30, 1997 and provides that in fiscal year 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 revenues generated from the tax may not exceed $9,000,000. House Bill 262. Infants Nursing in Public (J. Buffinire). H.B. 262 provides that breast feeding in public does not constitute an obscene or lewd act and is not a violation of criminal law. Local governments may not prohibit breast feeding in public. House Bill 313. Commitment of Mentally HI Persons (J. Haymond). H.B. 313 provides that children may be placed in the Utah State Hospital by a parent or guardian if a neutral and detached fact finder determines that certain criteria related to the appropriateness of the admission have been met. Senate Bill 42. Controlled Substances Prescription Database Provisions (R. Montgomery). S.B. 42 creates a controlled substances database regarding prescription drug usage. It authorizes the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to administer the database. It also outlines the data to be collected, requires pharmacists to obtain positive identification of an individual obtaining a controlled substance, and facilitates the use of the database for tracking provider prescribing practices, substance abuse and forgeries or false prescriptions. Finally it provides for use of data, access to data, and penalties for improper use of the database. Senate Bill 57. Mammography Facility Accreditation (R. Montgomery). S.B. 57 authorizes the Radiation Control Board within the Department of Environmental Quality to accredit mammography facilities upon approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate individuals who survey mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices at mammography facilities. Senate Bill 72. WIC Trust Fund (B. Wharton). S.B. 72 removes the repeal date of June 20, 1995 from Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Food expendable trust fund. Senate Bill 121. Parents Medical Payment Responsibilities (C. Stewart). S.B. 121 prohibits recovery of a non-paying parent's portion of medical expenses of a minor child from a parent who has paid his portion of the medical expenses if mere is a court of administrative order for the medical support of a child. A parent may obligate the other parent for a child's reasonable and necessary medical expenses. Senate Bill 197. Utah Veterans Home (C. Peterson). S.B. 197 establishes a Utah Veterans Home under the administration of the Department of Health. It also provides eligibility and admission criteria, creates an advisory board, and appropriates $500,000 to help fund the facility. Senate Bill 221. Classification of Primary Care Physicians (E. Money). S.B. 221 provides that a female health maintenance organization enrollee may annually receive one outpatient examination from an HMO physician who is an obstetrician or gynecologist without first obtaining a referral or pre-authorization from her primary care physician. Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1995 135 |
