Bill > SB0196

This bill makes two key amendments related to physical therapists in Utah's healthcare regulations. First, it expands the definition of "primary health care" to explicitly include physical therapists among the healthcare professionals providing primary care services, alongside physicians, nurses, and physician assistants. Second, the bill modifies insurance policy regulations to allow accident and health insurance policies to permit insureds to select a participating physical therapist as a primary care provider for physical therapy services, with the important caveat that physical therapists can only provide services within their legally defined scope of practice under the Physical Therapy Practice Act. The bill also requires insurance policies to clearly communicate these options to insureds and prohibits imposing additional expenses or higher premiums for selecting a primary care provider under these new provisions. These changes aim to provide patients with more flexibility in choosing primary care providers and recognizing physical therapists' role in healthcare. The bill is set to take effect on May 7, 2025.