IHA 2023 Legislative Agenda

Licensing Modernization & Workforce Pipeline (HB 1460 and HB 1216)

Author: Representative Brad Barrett and Representative Ethan Manning (items in red will be included in separate bill due to fiscal impact)

Licensing Modernization

To continue modernizing Indiana's licensing process, this legislation would:

Allow the Professional Licensing Agency's (PLA) licensing boards to meet virtually.
Establish a deadline for appointments to the licensing boards by the Governor.
Starting January 2024, require all applications to be submitted electronically (exceptions apply).
Clarify provisions of the new reciprocity law to improve PLA's implementation and ensure full reciprocal licenses are issued within 30 days.
Specify that PLA will keep at least 80% of the revenue it generates through licensing fees to assist with the goal of ensuring all licenses are issued within 30 days.

Data and Transparency

To continue efforts to ensure best practices are in place, this legislation would:

Expand data collected during license renewals to additional health care fields.
Require board vacancies to be posted online through the PLA's website.
Require PLA to collect and report data on the application and licensing process.

Expanding the Hoosier Nurse Pipeline

For the past two years, Indiana's health care workforce has faced unprecedented challenges caring for Hoosiers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has taken its toll on Indiana's workforce, and especially on nurses, which has led to burnout and an ongoing exodus of workers from the health care industry. In the 2022 Legislative session, the General Assembly passed a multi-pronged approach to Nurse Indiana Back to Health (HEA 1003). A partnership with Ivy Tech and other stakeholders brought solutions to address this urgent issue in the 2022 legislative session.

To continue to support workforce needs, this legislation would:

Create the Linking Industry to Nursing Education fund ($30M), administered by the Commission for Higher Education.
The fund will be used to match, dollar-for-dollar, investments by health care entities in nursing education programs to continue to expand Indiana's nurse workforce pipeline.

Health Insurance Transparency (SB 400)

Author: Senator Liz Brown

Health Insurance Transparency

Over the past several Indiana legislative sessions, hospitals have worked to ensure patients have readily available information about the cost of their health care.
To continue improving transparency across the health care continuum, this legislation would:

Require an insurer to submit a written justification to the Indiana Department of Insurance for all premium increases and provide the justification to the policyholder prior to the increase going into effect.
Require insurers to post certain financial information on their websites.
Require insurers to provide full rate schedules and update those schedules when three or more CPT codes are changed in a 12-month period.

Streamlining Prior Authorization

To ensure patients receive the best care possible, this legislation would:

Prohibit certain denials for services deemed medically necessary.
Prohibit insurers from requiring providers to separately contact third parties.
Create a pilot program that prohibits insurers from requiring prior authorization and prohibit retroactive denial for certain (often approved) CPT codes.