Indiana State Nurses Association• Blayne Miley, JD– Director of Policy & Advocacy

• www.indiananurses.org• bmiley@indiananurses.org @IndianaNurses

Indiana State Nurses Association

Indiana General Assembly Session

• 1,237 Bills Introduced

• Session Deadlines– This week: Committee Reports– Feb. 26th: Initial Chamber Passage– Apr. 15th: Second Chamber Passage– Apr. 29th: Adjournment

How to Reach Legislators

•Email•Phone•Twitter•Facebook

They Want to Hear From You!

ISNA’s Role

• Inform– ISNAbler: currently updating on 80 bills every

week

• Advocate– What do Indiana’s Nurses think about _____ ?– Political Action Committee

• Amplify– Public Policy Platform– Grassroots Advocacy Network– Help You Contact Your Legislators

Caregiver Mandates• Caregivers mandates• Amended to be less prescriptive:– Offer opportunity to appoint caregiver– Request consent to release patient info to caregiver– Attempt to notify of discharge if patient can’t– Attempt to provide home care plan

• May include live demonstration of aftercare

– Lack of contact does not delay hospital services

• HB 1265• House Chamber

Reducing Limitations on Prescribing• Allows APNs & PAs to prescribe controlled

substances for weight loss• Changes the limitations on physician assistant

prescribing from one year and 1,800 hours of practice for all controlled substances to just one year and only for schedule II controlled substances

• HB 1183• Passed House Chamber

Opioid Prescribing

• Requires other healthcare profession boards to adopt rules that conform to those adopted by the Medical Licensing Board on opioid prescribing

• SB 534: deadline March 1, 2016– Senate Chamber

• HB 1614: once adopted, no amendments without Medical Licensing Board approval– Failed at House Public Health Committee

Medical Malpractice Changes

• Allow claims involving the removal of the wrong body part or leaving an instrument inside a patient to bypass the medical review board– SB 55– Failed before Senate Chamber

• Increase damages caps from $1.25 million/$250,000 (total/individual portion) to $1.65 million/$300,000– HB 1043– House Chamber

Skilled Nursing Home Moratorium

• Imposes a 3 year ban on new comprehensive care facilities– Does not include assisted living or projects already

under development– Driven by levels of occupancy and state funding

• SB 460• Passed Senate Chamber

Cultural Competency Training for Health Profession Licensees

• Requires an individual seeking licensure in a health care profession to complete cultural competency training.– Applies to new licenses issued after June 30, 2015 – Bill specifies topics, not duration of training

• SB 47• Did not pass Senate Pensions and Labor Committee

Student Loan Repayment Assistance for Nurses, Teachers, and Social Workers

• Establishes a $2,500 annual grant for those employed in the qualifying professions for up to 5 years from starting to make student loan repayments. – Would be administered by Commission on Higher Education

• HB 1114• Did not pass House Ways and Means Committee

Advanced Policy Legislative Conference Mar. 5th

• Presentations– State Legislator Q&A– RN Workforce Data Report– FSSA on Medicaid and HIP – Future Nurse Policy Goals

• Downtown Indianapolis• Register at indiananurses.org