Healthcare

House File 919 creates a new "specialty hospital" designation for certain nonprofit organizations in Iowa that were previously licensed nursing facilities. These hospitals must primarily serve individuals aged 30 and younger, with a high percentage of patients receiving Medicaid, and specialize in pediatric rehabilitation or complex medical/behavioral health needs. The bill directs state departments to grant qualifying entities a provisional general hospital license by July 1, 2025, enabling them to receive enhanced hospital-based reimbursement set at their average allowable per diem costs. It also allows for waivers from certain hospital facility requirements, construction standards, and exemptions from providing specific emergency, laboratory, or pathology services beyond what they currently offer. Furthermore, the bill permits the redesignation of nursing facility beds to specialty hospital beds and expansion up to 100 beds.

This bill enacts the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact, allowing licensed respiratory therapists to practice in multiple states that join the compact. This directly affects respiratory therapists seeking to work across state lines and patients needing respiratory care in member states. Under the compact, a respiratory therapist holding an unencumbered license in their primary state of domicile can obtain a "compact privilege" to practice in other member states without needing a separate full license in each. The compact aims to increase public access to respiratory therapy services, ease administrative burdens for licensees, and address workforce shortages. It also establishes a commission to administer the compact and maintain a data system for licensee information, while preserving each state's authority to regulate the practice of respiratory therapy within its borders.

House File 309 relates to the process by which the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing reviews nursing facilities. Specifically, the bill addresses how the department evaluates certain deficient practices identified within these facilities. It modifies the existing framework for DIAL's review of these practices, affecting both the department's oversight responsibilities and the operational procedures of nursing facilities.