Idaho Occupational Therapy Practitioners, As a direct result of your advocacy and the advocacy of our fellow State Associations for Athletic Trainers, Respiratory Therapists, Physical Therapists and Dieticians, Representative Erickson, the initial sponsor of HB28, put forth a motion for the bill to be held in the House Health and Welfare Committee INDEFINITELY. This motion passed UNANIMOUSLY on Thursday, February 16th.
(The following was paraphrased or directly quoted from the publicly available video recording of the 9 am Idaho House of Representatives Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday, February 16th. If you would like to watch the entire recording, please access it at the link here).
DOPL Deputy Tim Frost, who proposed the legislation initially, gave testimony in front of the Health and Welfare Committee, stating that all five associations that were impacted by this bill had met, with at least fifty different representatives from the respective associations that were impacted by this bill, and that it was clear that the respective associations would like some adjustment to the proposed board composition and makeup. He made comment that the athletic trainers and dieticians would like at least two members for representation, and the physical and occupational therapy associations requested there be both a PT and PTA and an OT and OTA.
Mr. Frost then stated, “I don’t feel like the entities at this time are in a position to move forward, it’s pretty clear that our physical therapists and our occupational therapists continue to want to be an independent board.”
Mr. Frost then iterated that DOPL is committed to finding efficiencies, and an improved financial future with the state of the current boards. He stated he plans to request more time to meet with the associations and stakeholders and have additional conversations through this summer and fall of 2023 and bring back a revised version of this legislation back to the House Health and Welfare Committee in 2024.
The Idaho Occupational Therapy Association remains committed to working closely with the DPOL and the involved associations around this potential future piece of legislation to ensure that the public of Idaho and access to occupational therapy services are protected.
Regards,
The Idaho Occupational Therapy Association
Megan Doyle, President
Lisa Baxter Hong, Legislative/Reimbursement/Advocacy Chair