New Limits on Minor Consents in Idaho

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By Kim Stanger

Note: This health law update originally was published on April 9, 2024. It was updated April 26, 2024, to reflect additional information.

Effective July 1, 2024, Idaho healthcare providers must obtain parental consent to treat unemancipated minors or face civil liability except in emergency cases. In addition, parents will have a right to access the medical records of their minor children subject to very limited exceptions. This is a significant change in the current law and will require healthcare providers to adjust their current policies and practices. The statute must be read and applied in conjunction with Idaho’s general consent statutes, I.C. § 39-4501 et seq. Read more

24-Hour Mental Holds In Idaho: New Standards, New Problems

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By Kim Stanger

Since early 2022, the Idaho legislature has modified the standards for a patient’s capacity to consent to healthcare and 24-hour protective holds. This health law update summarizes the current rules for capacity and consent; the amended standards for 24-hour mental holds; and the net effect the changes may have on patients, providers, and hospitals. For information concerning protective holds for minors under I.C. § 16-2411 or 72-hour holds for voluntary inpatients under I.C. § 66-320, see our article at https://www.hollandhart.com/mental-holds-in-idaho. Read more

No More EMTALA Exception to Idaho’s Total Abortion Ban

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By Kim Stanger

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ended the EMTALA exception to Idaho’s total abortion ban, I.C. 18-622.

In 2022, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the state of Idaho, claiming that EMTALA preempted the total abortion ban in emergency cases. The federal district court of Idaho entered a preliminary injunction staying Idaho’s enforcement of its total abortion ban in EMTALA cases pending final resolution of the case.  (See our August 26, 2022, Health Law Update.) However, on September 28, 2023, the Ninth Circuit overruled the district court, holding that an intervening decision by the Idaho Supreme Court and Idaho’s amendment to the total abortion ban in 2023 mitigated, to a large extent, the concerns raised by the district court. Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit stayed the district court’s injunction, thereby ending the EMTALA exception to the total abortion ban pending a final decision in the district court case. A copy of the Ninth Circuit decision may be accessed here.  Read more

Idaho’s New Essential Caregiver Visitation Law

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by Cameron McCue

Idaho implemented a new law that gives people receiving in-person healthcare services the right to be visited by essential caregivers of their choosing under certain conditions. I.C. § 39-9802. The law, which became effective July 1, 2023, requires healthcare and assisted living facilities to allow patients to have in-person visitation from an essential caregiver even if other visitors are being excluded by the facility. I.C. § 39-9803. The new law supplements requirements that hospitals, long-term care facilities, and certain other institutional providers already have under licensure regulations or Medicare conditions of participation.

The law defines “essential caregiver” as “a person or persons designated by a patient or resident to visit the patient or resident in person at a facility.” I.C. § 39-9801(2). Healthcare facilities have certain obligations under the new law beyond just allowing patients to have in-person visitation from an essential caregiver. Facilities must (1) when practicable, notify potential patients or residents of their right to designate essential caregivers prior to admission to the facility; (2) provide patients or residents an opportunity to designate their essential caregivers; and (3) within certain limits, accommodate patient requests to have essential caregivers visit. Read more

Referrals for Out-of-State Abortions: New Idaho Decision

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By Kim Stanger

The federal District Court of Idaho has issued a ruling that will help protect physicians and other healthcare providers who refer patients outside of Idaho for an abortion.

As we have previously discussed (see https://www.hollandhart.com/idahos-amended-abortion-laws-summary-and-updated-faqs), Idaho’s criminal abortion ban prohibits “assist[ing] in performing or attempting to perform an abortion.”  (I.C. 18-622(2)).  On March 27, 2023, Idaho Attorney General Labrador issued a letter (the “Crane Letter”) to a legislator in which he opined: Read more