# Indiana SB 473: Various health care matters. Indiana SB 473, Various health care matters., is a First Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2025) Senate bill sponsored by Liz Brown (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-01 (Public Law 143); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB473-2025 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Indiana SB 473 - State: Indiana - Session: First Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2025) - Title: Various health care matters. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-01-13 - Last action: 2025-05-01, Public Law 143 - Sponsor: Liz Brown (Republican) - Cosponsors: 9 - Subjects: health and provider services, appropriations, the house, public health - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 3 (181 yes, 2 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 38 ## Summary Specifies the process for a managed care organization to follow concerning home modification services. Requires a patient of an opioid treatment program (program) who has tested positive on a drug test to be given a random drug test monthly until the patient passes the test. (Current law requires the patient to be tested weekly.) Allows a program to close on Sundays and federal holidays. Prohibits the division of mental health and addiction from: (1) requiring a program's medical director to have admitting privileges at a hospital; and (2) establishing rules or guidelines concerning program admission and medication that are more stringent than federal regulations. Allows specified health care providers to perform the initial assessment, examination, and evaluation of a patient being admitted to a program. Allows the medical staff of an ambulatory outpatient surgical center to make recommendations on the granting of clinical privileges or the appointment or reappointment of an applicant to the governing board of the ambulatory outpatient surgical center for a period not to exceed 36 months. (Current law allows medical staff of hospitals to make recommendations.) Establishes the certified health care professions commission (commission). Sets forth the requirements for the: (1) certification of nurse aides and qualified medication aides; and (2) registration of home health aides. Specifies the duties of the Indiana department of health and the commission in regulating these professions. Relocates provisions concerning training for home health aides and requires the commission to approve the training. Sets forth requirements on facilities in employing nurse aides. Specifies the definition of "nurse aide" for purposes of an administrative rule. Makes changes to the release of medical information statute. Modifies the duties of the center for deaf and hard of hearing education. Adds provisions regarding "family navigators" and specifies the role of family navigators in the provisions of the bill regarding the center for deaf and hard of hearing education. Allows a prescriber to prescribe certain agonist opioids through telehealth services for the treatment or management of opioid dependence. (Current law allows only a partial agonist to be prescribed through telehealth.) Allows certain residential care administrators an exemption from taking continuing education during the initial licensing period. Allows for the provision of certain anesthesia in a physician's office or a podiatrist's office without the office being accredited. (Current law allows for this in dental offices.) Requires adverse events concerning anesthesia in an office based setting to be reported to the medical licensing board of Indiana (board). Requires the board to: (1) determine the types of adverse events to be reported; (2) establish a procedure for reporting; and (3) post the adverse events on the board's website. Creates a process for certain individuals who do not have a Social Security number and who are seeking licensure by examination as a registered nurse or practical nurse to obtain a provisional license. Requires a nursing program to offer a clinical experience for clinical hours in a hospital and a health facility setting. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Addiction treatment prescriptions available through telehealth: benefit, medium. Prescribers can issue telehealth prescriptions for an FDA-approved opioid addiction treatment without a prior in-person exam. The medicine must be used to treat or manage opioid dependence. Prescribers must meet care standards, stay within their license and certification, and follow the law’s other… - Deaf children and families get support: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, the state center must support deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth through age 21. Services include family navigators, resource connections, and audiology assessments and management, without favoring a communication mode. The center follows children from birth throug… - Medication aides can perform more tasks: benefit, medium. Certified medication aides can give specified prescribed medicines, including medicines through stomach or intestinal feeding tubes, and perform finger-stick blood sugar tests. They must have the required training and follow provider orders, nurse assessment or authorization requirements, and facil… - Inactive nurse aides can return: benefit, medium. Nurse aides can regain registry status after passing the state nurse aide exam. They must have been removed within the past five years because they provided no nursing-related services for 24 consecutive months. They must also have no findings of abuse, neglect, or misuse of patient property while… - License holders gain contact information privacy: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, licensing agencies generally must keep home phone numbers and email addresses private. This covers current and former license holders, applicants, and board members. Exceptions allow specified government, legal, research, consent-based, and other legally authorized uses. Req… - Medicaid home changes get processing deadlines: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, Medicaid managed care plans contracted to provide home modifications must follow processing deadlines. Plans must request project specifications within 15 days after a patient care coordinator’s request. They must approve or deny the work, with an explanation, within 15 days… - More clinicians can assess addiction patients: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, opioid treatment admission assessments can be performed by physicians, qualified advanced practice registered nurses, or qualified physician assistants. Nurses and physician assistants need the required license and a collaborative agreement with an onsite program physician.… - Trained home aides can give tube feedings: benefit, low. The law repeals earlier tube-feeding provisions and authorizes registered home health aides to provide gastrointestinal or jejunostomy tube feedings under the new framework. Training requires 4–8 classroom hours, 2–4 practical hours, and written and practical exams. A registered nurse must supervis… - Trained medication aides can give insulin: benefit, low. Medication aides can give insulin after completing an optional course and passing written and practical tests. The course requires 4–8 classroom hours and 2–4 practical hours. The facility must permit the task, and a registered nurse must supervise or delegate based on the aide’s competency. Facili… - Broader evaluations for deaf children: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, the state center must ensure comprehensive educational evaluations for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Evaluations must consider the full range of communication options. The center must make professionals available based on each child's needs. - New care administrators skip education hours: benefit, low. New residential care administrators are exempt from 20 continuing education hours during the two-year period when their first Indiana license is issued. The exemption applies only to administrators who were not previously licensed as residential care administrators in another state. - Aide investigations and good-faith reporting protections: benefit, low. The health department must investigate aide abuse, neglect, and theft or misuse of patient property, plus medication aide misconduct. It must send supporting evidence and findings to the commission, which decides whether findings enter the registry. Beginning September 1, 2025, specified civil and… - Fewer requirements for opioid treatment directors: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, the state mental health and addiction division cannot require opioid treatment medical directors to have hospital admitting privileges. This limits the division's requirements for directors, not patients' treatment duties. - Patients gain anesthesia incident reporting: benefit, low. Providers must report board-designated anesthesia adverse events within 24 hours in offices operating under the law’s accreditation exception. The board decides which events require reports and sets reporting procedures. It must post reported events on its website. - Patients gain medication aide safety safeguards: benefit, low. Beginning September 1, 2025, medication aide misconduct includes medication misuse, unsafe work, certification fraud, impairment, and false investigation statements. Improper patient relationships are also covered, with exceptions for specified family ties and arrangements predating certification.… - State centralizes care aide oversight: benefit, low. Beginning September 1, 2025, Indiana must maintain a registry of certified nurse aides, qualified medication aides, and registered home health aides. The new Certified Health Care Professions Commission oversees aide qualifications, training, and discipline. Members who are not state employees rece… - False aide titles carry criminal penalties: cost, medium. People without certification cannot claim to be certified nurse aides or work in that role. People without valid medication aide certification cannot claim that title or use words or symbols implying it. Knowingly or intentionally making either false title claim is a Class A misdemeanor. - Medication aides face job entry requirements: cost, medium. Qualified medication aide trainees must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or equivalent. They must hold nurse aide certification in good standing. They also need 1,000 hours of nurse aide work unless the commission waives that requirement. Work generally requires completing approved tra… - Addiction clinics can close on holidays: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, Indiana opioid treatment programs can close on Sundays and federally recognized national legal holidays. Programs are allowed, but not required, to close on those days. - Medication aides face clear care limits: cost, low. Medication aides cannot give injections except authorized insulin, or inhaled medicines except through a metered-dose inhaler. They cannot give medicine through a nose-to-stomach tube or use irrigation fluids except the specified disposable enema. They cannot take responsibility for written or tele… - Nursing students need two clinical settings: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, covered nursing programs must include clinical hours at both a licensed hospital and a licensed health facility. The rule applies to practical nursing, associate degree, diploma, and bachelor's degree nursing programs. - Training and renewal rules for nurse aides: cost, low. Nurse aides hired without approved training must enroll in the first available approved program starting within 60 days of employment. Certification lasts two years, and renewal requires federally required in-service training. Certified aides must report mailing or email address changes within 30 d… - Nursing programs must use multiple sites: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, nursing programs must arrange required instruction and clinical experience at more than one institution or agency. The nursing board must approve each site used. - Temporary licenses for nurses without Social Security numbers: mixed, high. Most Indiana professional license applicants and licensees must provide Social Security numbers beginning July 1, 2025. Licensing agencies may share numbers with testing services and licensing regulators for licensing and discipline. Eligible nursing applicants seeking a federally authorized work v… - Positive drug tests limit take-home treatment: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, a prohibited positive drug test blocks take-home opioid treatment medication until assessment and a passing random test. The state division can authorize an exception. Patients must report daily, except during closures, until the evaluator and program staff determine daily t… - Home health aides face registration standards: mixed, medium. Home health aides must apply for registration and complete a competency program meeting federal standards. Training must total at least 75 hours, including 16 classroom hours before supervised practice. Registration lasts two years; renewal requires the state's process and required in-service train… - More certification paths for medication aides: mixed, medium. Medication aide certification paths cover nurse aides, nursing students and graduates, specified out-of-state workers and health practitioners, and military-trained applicants. Training, testing, background checks, and good-standing requirements depend on the applicant's background. Certification l… - More certification paths for nurse aides: mixed, medium. The law provides alternative nurse aide certification paths for specified nursing students, graduates, out-of-state aides, health practitioners, and military-trained applicants. Training, exams, and affidavits about disqualifying convictions depend on the path. Out-of-state aides must show good sta… - New oversight and deadlines for aides: mixed, medium. A new state commission oversees nurse aide, medication aide, and home health aide credentials, training, and disciplinary findings. Applications expire after one year unless requirements are completed; the commission can grant up to 30 extra days for good cause. An application filed after that expi… - Nurse aides face training and screening: mixed, medium. Beginning September 1, 2025, facilities generally must use certified nurse aides and check their registry status. Exceptions cover some trainees and aides awaiting registry listing; one allows up to four months after approved evaluation and a facility competency finding. Facilities must arrange app… - Courts oversee disease-related medical record requests: mixed, low. In cases involving offenses that may spread disease, prosecutors can seek a charged defendant’s medical information. Defendants can seek another person’s medical information relevant to their defense. Requests require a verified petition, notice to specified people and providers, and a hearing with… - Health records gain protections and exceptions: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, specified confidentiality rules cover health information held by state and local health departments, including the health and hospital corporation. The state health department can share medical or disease information with a qualifying Indiana nonprofit when necessary for a p… - Aide credentials stay valid during reviews: mixed, low. A complaint about conduct covered by the law can delay aide credential renewal for up to 120 days after expiration. The health department must notify the worker and investigate; the commission must review evidence and hold a hearing before the delay ends. The credential remains valid until the comm… - Home aides register without state fees: mixed, low. Only registered home health aides may provide home health aide services. The commission and health department cannot charge aides for registration or renewal. A health care professional must supervise the aide’s care within that professional’s scope of practice. - Home health aides need ongoing training: mixed, low. Home health aides need 12 training hours each calendar year, including eight on specified topics; first-year hours are prorated. A registered nurse must provide or supervise training, agencies must keep records, and agencies with probationary licenses cannot provide training. Aides caring for peopl… - Some anesthesia offices avoid accreditation requirements: mixed, low. Some physician, podiatry, and dental offices are exempt from board accreditation when qualifying practitioners provide moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia. Eligible practitioners include licensed anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists under a physician's direction and immediate p… - Updated legal coverage for health services: mixed, low. For one legal provision, health care services include noninvasive care, routine dental care, injections, minor wound stitching, and draining boils or superficial abscesses. That definition excludes abortions, including those using abortion-inducing drugs, and prescribing controlled or scheduled dru… - New standards for aide training programs: mixed, low. Medication aide programs are capped at 100 classroom and supervised practice hours, with facility practice, skills checklists, and documented lab substitutes. Instructors must be licensed nurses with one year of experience, an approved instructor course, and a state application. State-approved test… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Liz Brown (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Brad Barrett (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Cindy Ledbetter (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Ed Charbonneau (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Gregory Porter (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Joanna King (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Lonnie Randolph (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Mike Bohacek (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Tyler Johnson (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Vaneta Becker (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-16 | Senate | Senate concurred with House amendments | pass | 41 | 0 | | | 2025-04-09 | House | Third reading: passed | pass | 93 | 0 | | | 2025-02-20 | Senate | Third reading: passed | pass | 47 | 2 | | ## Actions (31) - 2025-05-01: Public Law 143 (Senate) - 2025-05-01: Signed by the Governor (Senate) - 2025-04-23: Signed by the President of the Senate (Senate) - 2025-04-22: Signed by the Speaker (House) - 2025-04-17: Signed by the President Pro Tempore (Senate) - 2025-04-16: Senate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 465: yeas 41, nays 0 (Senate) - 2025-04-10: Returned to the Senate with amendments (House) - 2025-04-10: Motion to concur filed (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Third reading: passed; Roll Call 411: yeas 93, nays 0 (House) - 2025-04-08: Amendment #3 (Barrett) prevailed; voice vote (House) - 2025-04-08: Amendment #1 (Barrett) prevailed; voice vote (House) - 2025-04-08: Amendment #4 (Barrett) prevailed; voice vote (House) - 2025-04-08: Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed (House) - 2025-04-01: Committee report: amend do pass, adopted (House) - 2025-04-01: Representatives Ledbetter and Porter added as cosponsors (House) - 2025-03-03: First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health (House) - 2025-02-21: Referred to the House (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Third reading: passed; Roll Call 201: yeas 47, nays 2 (Senate) - 2025-02-20: House sponsor: Representative Barrett (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Cosponsor: Representative King (Senate) - 2025-02-17: Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed (Senate) - 2025-02-17: Amendment #1 (Brown L) prevailed; voice vote (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Senator Randolph added as coauthor (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Committee report: amend do pass, adopted (Senate) - 2025-01-30: Senator Bohacek added as coauthor (Senate) - 2025-01-29: Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations (Senate) - 2025-01-16: Senator Becker added as coauthor (Senate) - 2025-01-16: Senator Johnson T added as third author (Senate) - 2025-01-13: Senator Charbonneau added as second author (Senate) - 2025-01-13: First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services (Senate) - 2025-01-13: Authored by Senator Brown L (Senate) ## Bill text - Engrossed Senate Bill (H): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.04.ENGS?format=pdf) - Engrossed Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.06.ENGH?format=pdf) - Enrolled Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.07.ENRH?format=pdf) - Introduced Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.01.INTR?format=pdf) - Senate Bill (H): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.05.COMH?format=pdf) - Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.02.COMS?format=pdf), [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.03.COMS?format=pdf) ## Related bills - SB 231: Various corrections matters. (signed) - SB 324: Criminal procedures. (signed) - SB 80: Code publication. (signed) - SB 453: Various tax matters. (signed) - SB 464: Financial institutions and consumer credit. (signed) - SB 371: Workforce matters. (signed) ## Sources - [Engrossed Senate Bill (H) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.04.ENGS?format=pdf) - [Engrossed Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.06.ENGH?format=pdf) - [Enrolled Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.07.ENRH?format=pdf) - [Introduced Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.01.INTR?format=pdf) - [Senate Bill (H) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.05.COMH?format=pdf) - [Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.02.COMS?format=pdf) - [Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/SB0473/versions/SB0473.03.COMS?format=pdf) ## Related - [SB 231: Various corrections matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB231-2025) - [SB 324: Criminal procedures.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB324-2025) - [SB 80: Code publication.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB80-2025) - [SB 453: Various tax matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB453-2025) - [SB 464: Financial institutions and consumer credit.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB464-2025) - [SB 371: Workforce matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB371-2025) - [Indiana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/indiana/bills) - [Indiana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/indiana) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB473-2025 (as of 2026-10-17).