celebrating a century of caring.
By Dave Gessel, UHA Executive Vice President
The following is a review of some of the legislation discussed at this year's Utah State Legislature affecting hospitals and health systems.
Another Epic Legislative Session for Utah’s Hospitals and Health Systems
Money was tighter this legislative session than it has been in many years. This was apparent by the lack of funding for many important issues. Nevertheless, many positive things happened for Utah’s hospitals and health systems this session. We appreciate the leadership of CEO Francis Gibson and the UHA board of trustees and the many UHA members and lobbyists who all worked together to make this a positive session. We want to thank Jason Wilson who served effectively as Chair of the UHA Government Relations Committee. UHA is grateful to work with and represent so many wonderful healthcare leaders and organizations.
HUGE 340b Win for Utah’s Eligible Hospitals
UHA spearheaded a historic win for Utah’s hospitals that participate in the federal 340b program. This was a massive effort, and we thank the sponsors, Senator Evan Vickers and Representative Steve Eliason for their amazing work in getting this passed. We also thank the leaders and lobbyists for all the hospitals and health systems that were so very important for this team win. S.B. 69 – Medication Amendments passed and will require pharmaceutical companies to pay the 340b discounts whether a hospital uses its own pharmacy or pharmacies the hospital contracts with. This legislation had many twists and turns through final passage. Essentially, pharmaceutical companies have been holding back tens of millions in discounts to qualifying Utah hospitals that this law will now require them to pay. Kudos to everyone for a major win this session.
2% Funding Increase in Medicaid for Hospitals and Health Systems
Funding proved tight for health programs this year. They were tight on overall Medicaid funding this year, but they did approve a 2% increase (nearly $30 million) in consensus funding for hospitals, providers and ACO’s for the coming year that hospitals and health systems should be aware of as they negotiate new contracts with ACO’s. Utah’s hospitals were surprised on the first day of the Legislature with a proposed $144 million state funding cut in Medicaid. As UHA lobbied against this we first showed that the Legislative Fiscal Analyst had combined three years of proposed cuts into one fiscal year and that was corrected to a $37 million general fund reduction to hospitals that the Legislative Fiscal Analyst told legislators could be replaced by using more of our hospital inpatient assessment. When we further pointed that we were already near the 6% assessment cap imposed by federal law, the general fund reduction was further lowered to $18 million. Bottom line is that there will be no change to hospital funding through June 30, 2026, when our hospital assessment will begin replacing this $18 million of state general funds.
Big Win on Medical Malpractice
There were three medical malpractice bills this session. It had been quite a few years since there were debates at the Legislature on these issues. The plaintiff attorneys supported H.B. 288 – Health Care Malpractice Amendments. This legislation would have moved the medical malpractice statute of limitations from 2 years to 8 years, increased the non-economic cap from $450,000 to $950,000 and changed the current collateral source rule. All of these would have been very detrimental to hospitals and health care providers and UHA and others stopped this bill quickly. There were two bills helping providers and hospitals and one of them passed. H.B. 503 -- Medical Malpractice Amendments passed and is the most important new medical malpractice protection bill in many years. This bill enhances the prelitigation panel process and gives physicians and others protection of their personal assets in lawsuits if they maintain at least $1 million dollars in medical malpractice insurance. This bill also requires gathering data on medical malpractice cases, and it will no longer allow plaintiffs to use as there “medical damages” what was billed to them but only the paid that was paid.
Free Standing Emergency Department Legislation Passes
H.B. 152 – Health Care Facilities Amendments passed after lengthy negotiation. This legislation sets standards in these facilities in urban areas regarding physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, laboratory tests, blood, security, signage and other issues. In return, hospitals and health systems can build up to two times the hospital emergency departments the hospital or its parent health care system operates in the state. These facilities can only be run by hospitals or health systems that have hospitals.
Medicaid Legislation
Most of the bills trying to change Medicaid did not pass. S.B. 257 – Medicaid Accounts Amendments proposed a process similar to last session to deal with Medicaid reductions, but it did not pass. S.B. 193 – Medicaid Provider Reimbursement Amendments also did not pass. It would have required ACO’s to give annual increases to a number of provider groups that currently do not receive those. H.B. 409 – Medicaid Pharmacy Amendments did not pass, and it was concerning as it would have changed the current ACO pharmacy payment process. S.B. 284 – Medicaid Doula Services did pass, and it authorizes Medicaid to cover doula services in the future.
Mental Health Funding and Legislation
The large increases in mental health funding that have occurred over the past few years were generally maintained but were not added upon in this tight budget year. Another attempt to move the Utah State Hospital was stopped and that hospital received additional funding to address the mental health bed shortage. H.B. 276 – Civil Commitment Amendments passed and amended the law in dealing with involuntary commitments. Also, H.B. 56 – Civil Commitment Modifications passed and changes discharge procedures for these patients. H.B. 491 – Behavioral Health Modifications also passed. Among other items, it provides new regulations on behavioral health receiving centers and also new Medicaid directed payments for both the Utah State Hospital and the Huntsman Mental Health Institute. H.B. 452 – Artificial Intelligence Amendments also passed, and it enacts provisions regulating mental health chatbots that use artificial intelligence.
Other Health Care Bills Passed Impacting Hospitals
There were several other bills passed that impact Utah’s hospitals. S.B. 134 – Health Care Decisions Act Amendmentspassed and adopts most of the national model uniform law for end-of-life decisions. This updates Utah’s current law in this area and the effective date is January 1, 2026, to give hospitals and physicians and others added time to review their current policies and update them. S.B. 190 – Workers Compensation Modifications passed, and it gives the Utah Labor Commission authority to set payment rates to hospitals as they have already done for physicians for many years. UHA and representatives of Utah hospitals will work with the Labor Commission to come to a fair rate over the next few months. S.B. 57 – Newborn Relinquishment Amendments passed and lengthens the time from 30 to 90 days that a newborn baby may be given to a hospital with no questions asked. H.B. 363 – Newborn Infant Testing Amendmentsalso passed and requires DHHS to create a form for parental consent to newborn testing and limits how long the test results may be stored. H.B. 14 – Emergency Services Personnel Amendments passed, and it allows licensed emergency medical service personnel to provide non-emergency medical services in hospital emergency rooms and other places if approved by the hospital.
Bills That Did Not Pass Potentially Impacting Hospitals
There were several bills potentially impacting hospitals that did not pass this session as UHA worked with others to stop these bills. H.B. 123 – Pharmacy Accessibility Amendments did not pass. It would have required hospital and other pharmacies to provide labels in braille or other ways to help visually impaired individuals. It was held in committee due to operational costs as well as it being clear that pharmacies already provide other ways to help in this regard. S.B. 320 – Physician Practice Amendments also did not pass. It dealt with adding physician rights to not perform physician services if a physician had a sincerely held medical, religious, moral or ethical belief against providing that service. H.B. 400 – Blood Transfusion Amendments the so called “bring your own blood” bill did not pass. It would have required under certain circumstances for patients to bring their own blood to be used in hospital procedures. H.B. 517 – Post Employment Restrictions Revisions did not pass. It would have ended noncompete agreements for mental health providers. H.B. 555 – Medical Waste Amendments did not pass in how unused patient drugs would be disposed. S.B. 60 – Newborn Testing Amendments would have required a new test for newborns, but it did not pass. S.B. 175 – Medical Expense Liability Amendments did not pass, and it would have exempted a deceased spouses medical bills from being paid by the remaining spouse.
Other Health Care Bills That Passed
S.B. – 274 Health Insurance Preauthorization Revisions passed and requires health insurers to provide better notice and information dealing with preauthorization denials to patients, providers and the Department of Insurance. H.B. 301 – Ambulance Provider Payment Amendments passed. This bill sets a base rate for ground ambulances to be paid and prohibits balance billing of patients. There were several other bills dealing with emergency services in the state that passed. Also, several bills passed that impacted pharmacists, dentists, physical therapists as well as other providers.
UTAH HOSPAC Golf Tournament in June!
One of the best ways to support UTAH HOSPAC, our political action committee, is our 25th annual golf tournament that will be held once again at Thanksgiving Point on Monday, June 9, 2025. We encourage each hospital to provide a foursome at the tournament as that goes a long way for most hospitals in meeting their annual HOSPAC goal. Look for additional information soon on the golf tournament as well as other opportunities to contribute to UTAH HOSPAC. You can go to the UHA website to register your team now.
UHA Is Here to Help and Serve
UHA is here to help you with any of your legislative questions or concerns. Please review the attached list of bills for additional information. If you need even more bill or legislative information you can go to the legislative website at https://le.utah.gov where you can read the legislation that passed this session. If you have specific questions or concerns, please e-mail Dave Gessel at
Time is running out to submit a nomination for UHA's annual awards program, which includes the 2018 Trustee Service Award, Distinguished Healthcare Executive Award and Distinguished Service to Healthcare Award. The deadline for nominations is August 3, 2018 at noon.
The recipients will be recognized at the UHA Fall Leadership Conference at Zermatt Resort in Midway on Thursday, October 4th. Please take a minute to consider who from your organization deserves some special recognition and submit your nomination online, or contact
Help the Texas Hospital Association support Texas hospital employees whose lives have been impacted by the devastating destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey. While thousands of our healthcare colleagues work around the clock to serve emergency response efforts, their families are being affected by this historic storm and flooding damage.
The THA Hospital Employee Assistance Fund has been created to assist hospital employees who experience significant property loss or damage. All funds will be used to directly assist hospital employees in FEMA-designated disaster areas; administrative services are being provided in-kind so that 100 percent of donated funds will be used to assist hospital employees.
Please help us provide some relief to our colleagues. To learn more about the Fund or make a donation, click here.
This article was originally published in the Deseret New's opinion section on February 17, 2017 by UHA President/CEO Greg Bell.
“If you have your health you have everything.” Or so we’ve always heard.
Good health is foundational to many important things in life — work, maintaining your home and yard, playing with your kids and grandchildren, active leisure, traveling and touring, serving others and myriad other things.
While some disease comes upon us by the luck of the draw, our own lifestyle choices determine much of our health. In the U.S., our behavioral choices account for fully two-thirds of disease and serious physical impairment. An NIH study found that the top factors causing the U.S.’s chronic diseases are tobacco use, poor diet and sedentary lifestyle. Fully 45 percent of U.S. citizens suffer from at least one serious chronic medical condition. Chronic disease and conditions account for a whopping 70 percent of deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control tell us that obese people are at significantly elevated risk of developing conditions leading to premature death such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, some cancers, depression and anxiety. Indeed, obesity approaches smoking as a risk factor for death.
Utah’s obesity rates have skyrocketed from 9 percent in 1990 to 24.5 percent in 2015 — nearly triple. Please pause and consider that statistic. It is estimated that by 2030, heart disease will have quadrupled and obesity-related cancers will have doubled. A quarter million Utahns will have diabetes in 2030. Sadly, many children are becoming obese at very young ages, impairing their development and holding them back from the activities and fun of a normal childhood.
We all know the problem: We eat too much sugar, too much fat, too much salt and too much … period. High-calorie fast-food is ubiquitous and inexpensive. People consume absolutely huge amounts of calories. A normal adult male should eat between 2,000 and 2,200 calories a day. But some restaurant desserts check in at 1,000 calories, as do a big restaurant breakfast and a large bowl of pasta with meatballs. Three slices of pizza can approach 800 calories, and lasagna has about 700, depending on serving size. An apple fritter, two doughnuts and a healthy-looking muffin each weigh in at about 400 calories. We are indeed eating ourselves to death.
Last week, I saw a dear friend who had lost nearly 100 pounds. His doctor told him he was going to die because of his diabetes and other complications. He took the warning to heart. His diabetes has all but disappeared, and he feels great and looks terrific.
Losing weight is one of the hardest things in the world to do. When you break an addiction to drugs, alcohol or tobacco, you can eliminate them from your life. However, when trying to break the food addiction, you still have to eat. It becomes a difficult and life-long task to limit your intake enough to lose extra pounds and then maintain a healthy body weight. Exercise aids greatly in losing weight, but study after study show that the primary contributor to weight loss is to eat fewer calories.
Mick Cornett, the mayor of Oklahoma City, was distressed to learn that his city was rated as the most obese city and the worst for walking in the U.S. He looked in the mirror and realized he himself had several extra pounds. So he challenged his constituents to lose a million pounds together, which they did. He persuaded taxpayers to float an $800 million bond to build trails, parks and recreation centers. He created squads of health workers to go into the least healthy parts of town and go door to door and enlist people to help with diet and exercise. They built neighborhood centers with health and workout facilities in low-income neighborhoods. Oklahoma City dramatically increased the numbers of trails and sidewalks to make shopping, dining, commuting and other activities accessible for walkers and bikers. They built the largest rowing/kayaking center in the U.S. Early signs are that they are bending the curve.
For your future, your family, your productivity and enjoyment of life, resolve now that you are going to take charge of your health — especially your eating and exercise. You will feel good about yourself and likely enjoy a high quality of life in the years to come.