STATEHOUSE (March 20, 2013) — Two key pieces of legislation sponsored by State Sen. Ron Grooms (R-Jeffersonville) to give Hoosiers greater access to health-care services passed the Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services today.

Grooms said both of these bills take important steps to promote additional health-care options for Indiana families by expanding the list of services certain medical practitioners can offer.

“As more Baby Boomers retire, our health-care needs as a state are growing,” Grooms said. “People are living longer, requiring more medications and more frequent hospital stays. These proposals today will help free up staff and resources at medical facilities, allowing doctors and nurses to spend more time with patients while giving patients more options when it comes to how and where they receive medical care.”

House Bill 1464 would allow pharmacists to administer more types of immunizations than under current law. The additional immunizations include: pneumonia (for individuals aged 65 years and older), tetanus, diphtheria, meningitis, acellular pertussis (Tdap) and human papillomavirus (HPV).

Grooms said this initiative will give Hoosiers the convenience of visiting a local pharmacy for certain immunizations while knowing they will be administered under the same standards and protocol as any other doctor’s office or medical facility.

With similar goals in mind, House Bill 1099 would give physicians’ assistants in Indiana more freedom to provide additional medical services, as long as a supervising physician allows the treatment.

HB 1464 and 1099 both passed committee 10-0 and now head to the full Senate for further consideration.

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