Committee votes to repeal state hospital licensing chapter, deferring to federal CMS standards

The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to adopt docket 160314-2401, which repeals the state's hospital-licensing chapter and directs follow-up legislation to align Idaho's licensing with federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services standards.

Jared Larson, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs chief at the Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee the chapter repeal is intended to resolve a statutory tension: state rules could not be both more and less stringent than CMS at the same time. "We can't be more strict than the federal law," Larson said, describing the department's plan to deem CMS-licensed hospitals as licensed in Idaho and to seek a companion bill in the Senate.

Larson said the repeal is intended as a bridge while lawmakers consider legislation that will recognize CMS licensing and reduce duplicative oversight. He said the temporary bridging language previously in place made no substantive changes and that the pending docket removes the state-level duplication.

Committee members asked whether stakeholders — including hospitals and providers — supported the change. Larson said the regulated community generally welcomed reducing duplicate regulation. Representative Wheeling asked about the content of the linked document and raised concerns about apparent deletions; committee staff identified a linking error and Larson confirmed the correct docket. Representative Reardon moved adoption of the docket and the motion carried by voice vote; no opposed votes were recorded in the transcript.

The department said a companion bill would be introduced in the Senate this session to formally adopt the CMS licensing framework for Idaho hospitals. The repeal will take effect pending that follow-up legislation and the committee's approval.