The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on an unspecified date considered a slate of health and professional-licensing bills and voted to advance a number of measures to the Senate floor while rejecting Senate Bill 545, which would have moved massage therapy oversight from the State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The failed measure, Senate Bill 545, drew the most sustained debate. Senator Bergstrom, sponsor of the bill, argued the change would better align massage therapy oversight with medical billing practice and give investigators and the chiropractic board inspection authority that cosmetology has lacked. "The chiropractor's board was very much on board with taking them on," Bergstrom said. Opponents and some committee members voiced concerns about fee increases and whether the chiropractic board had adequate resources to handle inspections and investigations. The measure failed on a 5-5 roll call.

Other bills received committee approval. Senator Daniels' Senate Bill 202, amended to include an emergency clause, was described as a technical fix allowing employees covered by the Oklahoma Public Employee Health and Welfare Plan (a trust overseen by the attorney general) to be captured by rules that apply to other self-funded public-employee plans; the sponsor said about 370 of roughly 3,700 public employees in that trust would be affected. The committee approved the bill 11-0 after passing an amendment to add an emergency clause.

Senate Bill 56, sponsored by Senator Galahari, would authorize the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to establish a program that trains a qualified family member to serve as a paid family caregiver for certain Medicaid participants, with services provided under supervision of a registered nurse and reimbursement routed through a licensed home-health agency. The agency estimated annual savings of approximately $3,101,030 from services provided by trained family caregivers rather than other providers. The committee approved SB 56 by voice/roll call reported as 10-0.

Other approved measures included statutory cleanup and licensing bills for the board of dentistry (SB 669), changes to juvenile-record access for Moore Public Schools (SB 633), adjustments to mental-health or counseling board membership requirements (SB 880), expansion of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services commission from three to seven members (SB 770), a task force on medical-marijuana purchase and possession limits organized by the OMMA Executive Advisory Council (SB 522), statutory adjustments affecting parental access to minor medical records (SB 547), several chiropractic licensure modernizations (SB 667), nursing/long-term-care medication and plan-of-care requirements (identified in the transcript as Senate Bill 8804), a Dietitians Compact bill (SB 805) that was amended and advanced, and a bill raising MAC membership limits for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (SB 903). Many of those bills passed on unanimous or lopsided votes; the dietitians compact passed 8-1 after an amendment clarifying accreditation and supervised practice requirements.

Key committee exchanges

- Senate Bill 545 (massage therapy oversight): Debate focused on inspection authority, investigator credentials and fees. Bergstrom defended inspection powers and said the chiropractic board requested CLEET-certified investigators and inspection authority. On proposed fees, Bergstrom said the license renewal fee would increase from $50 to $75 to cover oversight, inspections and investigations; he added the cosmetology board currently holds a larger cash balance that would not automatically transfer to the chiropractic board. Senator Thompson said she would help advance the bill to committee but could not support the floor version without changes.

- Senate Bill 56 (family caregiver Medicaid): The sponsor described that trained family caregivers would provide services under RN supervision and receive reimbursement through licensed home-health agencies. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority provided the $3,101,030 annual savings estimate.

- Senate Bill 805 (Dietitians Compact): The committee adopted a technical amendment changing an "or" to an "and" so applicants must meet both the supervised-practice and programmatic accreditation requirements (ACEND or equivalent). Senator Pugh addressed constituent concerns about interstate compact fees, saying the compact would not allow the multi-state commission to assess fees on Oklahoma licensees practicing only in Oklahoma, though licensees practicing under another compacting state's rules may pay that state's fees.

Votes at a glance

- SB 202 (Daniels) — Fix to include certain OPEH&W plan participants; amended to add emergency clause. Do pass as amended. Vote: 11 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 56 (Galahari) — Family caregiver training and Medicaid reimbursement; estimated annual savings ~$3,101,030. Do pass. Vote: 10 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 669 (Gillespie) — Board of Dentistry cleanup and annual updates. Do pass. Vote: 10 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 545 (Bergstrom) — Move massage therapy oversight to Board of Chiropractic Examiners; failed, 5 ayes, 5 nays.
- SB 633 (Weaver) — Access for Moore Public Schools to the JOLT juvenile traffic system. Do pass. Vote: 7 ayes, 2 nays.
- SB 880 (Grellner) — Modify board membership requirements for counseling/alcohol & drug board (agency request). Do pass. Vote: 7 ayes, 3 nays.
- SB 770 (Hines) — Expand Department of Rehabilitation Services commission from 3 to 7 members. Do pass. Vote: 10 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 522 (Coleman) — Direct OMMA Executive Advisory Council to organize a task force on medical-marijuana possession limits; task force expires 11/01/2026. Do pass. Vote: 10 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 547 (Guthrie) — Amend 63-2021, section 2602 to restore parental access to minor medical records with specified exceptions; do pass. Vote: 7 ayes, 3 nays.
- SB 667 (Coleman) — Chiropractic licensure modernization, online portal and accreditation language updates. Do pass. Vote: 10 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 8804 (Pugh) — Long-term care medication administration, plan-of-care and pharmacy documentation requirements (as presented). Do pass. Vote: 10 ayes, 0 nays.
- SB 805 (Pugh) — Dietitians Multistate Compact; amendment adopted requiring both programmatic accreditation and supervised practice; do pass as amended. Vote: 8 ayes, 1 nay.
- SB 903 (Rosino proxy / OHCA request) — Increase max committee membership on OHCA Medical Advisory Committee to meet CMS requirements. Do pass. Vote: 9 ayes, 0 nays.

What happens next

Bills that passed the committee were reported to the Senate floor for further consideration. SB 545 failed in committee and will not advance unless reintroduced. Several passed bills include technical or policy changes that sponsors said will require rule-making or administrative work by state agencies if enacted.

Quotes in this report are taken verbatim from committee discussion and attributed to committee members and agency staff who spoke on the record during the hearing.