Human resources bills signed by Gov. Branstad

The following Human Resources bills have been signed into law by Gov. Branstad this session:

Senate File 2159 - Public Health Modernization. This bill was signed by the governor March 24. Division 1 removes outdated language that was passed in the Iowa Public Health Modernization Act in 2009.

At that time, the act created a voluntary accreditation system for local public health agencies. However, the act was never fully implemented. The focus moved to quality improvement instead of accreditation.

Therefore, the purpose of Division 1 is to remove outdated code language, to eliminate one of the two councils that were established under the code, and to retain the current fund that is being used to support quality improvement efforts in local public health agencies across the state.

Division 2 removes additional red tape in the Iowa Code related to local decision making for the operation of Local Boards of Public Health.

House File 2377 - Rural Practitioner Loan Repayment. This bill was signed by the governor March 30. This bill relates to two loan repayment programs that exist under the College Student Aid Commission. The bill reduces the limitation on the amount of loan repayment a student can receive annually.

However, this reduction doesn’t change the overall cap amount of the repayment. That number remains the same. The bill also allows the College Student Aid Commission to award program agreements to more than 15 students per year. This is being done because currently, there is a surplus of funds each year that could be distributed to additional students.

Senate File 2144 - Behavioral Health Records. This bill was signed by the governor April 6. Iowa’s privacy laws are more restrictive than federal privacy laws (HIPPA for mental health and physical health care information; 42 CFR for substance abuse).

Our current privacy laws could be seen as an impediment to integrated care, and lack of access to a patient’s full record creates patient safety concerns, particularly for drug interactions.

The bill allows information on treatment, diagnosis and medications to be exchanged between health care professionals treating a person. However, psychotherapy notes are not included in this and cannot be exchanged without written consent.

Senate File 2102 - Board of Pharmacy. This bill was signed by the governor April 6. This bill is brought to us by the board of pharmacy. The bill makes the section of the code related to the Iowa Prescription Monitoring Program more easily readable.

The bill directs the board of pharmacy to implement improvements to facilitate secure access to the Iowa Prescription Monitoring Program through electronic health and pharmacy information systems.

Senate File 2214 - Retail Pharmacies. This bill was signed by the governor April 6. This bill was brought to us by the retail pharmacies. The bill allows them to prescribe 90 day prescriptions in the same way mail-order pharmacies can.

House File 2387 - Alternative Exam for Dental Licensure. This bill was signed by the governor March 30. There has been an ongoing disagreement between the Iowa Dental Board and the University of Iowa Dental School about whether or not to use human subjects in the dental exam given to Iowa dental students.

This bill requires the Iowa Dental Board and the University of Iowa Dental school to work together to study the use of a dental exam without a human subject for implementation no later than the 2017-18 school year.

House File 2341 - Consumer Protection for Medical Students. This bill was signed by the governor April 6. This bill was requested by Des Moines University. The bill prohibits a school from establishing a presence in this state if the school claims accreditation, approval or charter by an entity that is not an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Senate File 2258 - DHS Department Bill. This bill was signed by the governor April 6. This bill implements the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (federal law from 2014).