Overview
In 2024, the Utah legislature considered legislation addressing telemedicine services, health insurance benefits, standards for healthcare facilities, and health benefit plan cost sharing, all of which ultimately died.
Utah was one of the first states to operate an APCD, and claims to be the first to begin tracking and analyzing episodes of care, an important feature of risk-sharing based payment systems for states looking to reduce private payer and Medicaid expenditures. The state also enacted a right to shop program in 2018, which requires the Public Employees’ Benefit and Insurance Program to implement a savings reward program and allows health insurers to reward plan enrollees for selecting high-quality and low-cost health care providers. Additionally, to promote prescription drug price transparency, the legislature passed laws to prohibit pharmacy benefits managers from preventing a pharmacist from disclosing cost information to a patient,
See below for an overview of existing Utah state mandates. Click on citation tab for detailed information of specific statutes (click link to download statute text).
State Action
Latest Legislative Session: 1/17/2023 - 3/3/2023 (2023 term). *Current session bill updates are ongoing. Check back weekly for updates.
HB 110 – Utah
Introduced: 2021 Status: Enacted
Health Care Payment Amendments. This bill provides that a governmental entity within the state that is a health care provider may not collect an overdue payment for a medical material or service from the debtor’s …
HB 116 – Utah
Introduced: 2022 Status: Inactive / Dead
This bill limits when a health care provider may seek payment for a medical service or procedure from an individual or a health benefit plan. For an insured patient, a health care provider may not, …
HB 127 – Utah
Introduced: 2017 Status: Inactive / Dead
This bill requires a health insurer to develop and implement a savings reward program for enrollees; requires an insurer to obtain approval of the savings reward program from the insurance commission; and gives the commissioner …
HB 128 – Utah
Introduced: 2017 Status: Enacted
This bill defines terms; modifies the circumstances under which a health care provider may make a report to a credit bureau, use the services of a collection agency, or use a non-routine billing or notification …
HB 154 – Utah
Introduced: 2017 Status: Enacted
This bill defines terms; amends the Medical Assistance Act regarding reimbursement for telemedicine services; amends the Insurance Code to require insurer transparency regarding telehealth reimbursement; amends the Public Employees’ Benefit and Insurance Program Act (PEHP) …
Utah Code § 53B-17-106. Utah Telehealth Advisory Council: Educational Telecommunications – Utah
Introduced: Status: Enacted
The Telehealth Advisory Council shall advise and make recommendations on telehealth service issues to the board and other state entities; and explore and encourage the development of telehealth as a means of reducing health care …
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Utah Code § 58-17b-605. Drug product equivalents: Regulation of the Practice of Pharmacy Operating Standards – Utah
Introduced: Status: Enacted
A pharmacist or pharmacy intern dispensing a prescription order for a specific drug by brand or proprietary name may substitute a drug product equivalent for the prescribed drug only if the purchaser specifically requests or …
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Utah Code § 58-17b-605.5. Interchangeable biological products: Regulation of the Practice of Pharmacy Operating Standards – Utah
Introduced: Status: Enacted
A pharmacist or pharmacy intern dispensing a prescription order for a specific biological product by brand or proprietary name may substitute an interchangeable biological product for the prescribed biological product only if the purchaser specifically …
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Utah Code § 58-17b-606. Restrictive drug formulary prohibited: Regulation of the Practice of Pharmacy Operating Standards – Utah
Introduced: Status: Enacted
the Department of Health may not maintain a restrictive drug formulary that restricts a physician’s ability to treat a patient with a legend drug that has been approved and designated as safe and effective by …
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Utah Code § 58-17b-612. Supervision–Pharmacist-in-charge: Regulation of the Practice of Pharmacy Operating Standards – Utah
Introduced: Status: Enacted
A supervising pharmacist does not have to be in the pharmacy or care facility but shall be available via a telepharmacy system for immediate contact with the supervised pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern
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FTC v. HCA Healthcare & Steward Health Care – Utah
District Court: District of Utah Status: Pending
HCA Healthcare, the second largest health system with six hospitals in the Wasatch Front region of Utah, proposed to acquire five hospitals from Steward Health …
In re: Suboxone Antitrust Litigation (State of Wisconsin, et al. v. Indivior Inc, et al.) – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
District Court: E.D. Pennsylvania Status: Pending
In September 2016, 35 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia brought a multi-district case against pharmaceutical manufacturer Indivior, MonoSol RX et al., alleging …
In Re: Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania Status: Pending
Plaintiffs are attorney generals from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, as well as classes of private plaintiffs that filed an antitrust …
Additional Resources
STATE BUDGET
Utah’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. Agencies submit their budget requests to the governor in October. The governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature in December. The legislature typically passes a budget in March. A simple majority is required to pass a budget. Utah is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.
STATE LEGISLATURE
The Utah State Legislature meets annually for a 45-day session, starting on the first Tuesday after the third Monday in January. There are 29 state senators serving four-year staggered terms. The 75 members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms. Bills do not carry over from year to year.