The 2025 legislative session has come to an end! This marks the 7th year the Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy has tracked health workforce legislation through the Bowen Bill Brief (B3). Many changes were implemented this year, including a redesign of the B3 to include more interactive graphics and regular social media and blog posts. Additionally, this year the Bowen Center created several rapid response briefs to elevate national and state health workforce data into relevant policy discussions. The Bowen Center remains committed to informing health workforce policy that advances health and finding novel ways to support stakeholders invested in the state of Indiana.
As of April 29, 2025, of the almost 300 bills related to health, health workforce or workforce introduced this session, 15 have become public law or are awaiting governor action. Keep reading to see which health workforce bills became law.
Nursing Workforce
Looking at the nursing workforce, Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 176 has been signed by the Governor and is now public law. This modifies the membership of the Board of Nursing housed at the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Two membership positions have been added, including one for an individual serving in a nurse faculty role. SEA 176 also modifies the educational requirements for licensed practical nurse (LPN) training. Prior to SEA 176, individuals were required to provide proof of high school graduation or equivalency prior to enrollment in an in LPN training program. SEA 176 extends the time when people are required to provide this documentation from prior to enrollment to prior to LPN training program completion. This opens LPN training pipeline to students completing high school coursework. The Bowen Center produced a brief this session showing that demand for licensed practical nurses in Indiana is outpacing our current supply. For more information, check out the blog post about it.
Another bill with several impacts on the nursing workforce is SB 473, which is currently awaiting Governor action. This bill may be considered an “omnibus” bill in that there are several measures outlined within it impacting several topics. SB 473 establishes the Certified Health Care Professions Commission housed at the Indiana Department of Health. The Commission will make determinations regarding the issuance of credentials and regulation of training for certified nurse aides (CNAs), qualified medication aides, and home health aides. SB 473 also includes provisions modifying clinical experience requirements for nursing programs. Upon enactment of SB 473, nursing programs will be required to offer clinical experiences in at least one hospital and one health care facility. We produced another rapid response brief on this topic this session which showed how other states handle regulation of CNAs. The interactive blog has additional details.
Physician Workforce
Several bills passed that will impact the physician workforce. SB 475, currently awaiting Governor Action, modifies regulations related to physician noncompete agreements. As defined in the bill, physician noncompete agreements are contracts that restrict a physician’s ability to practice medicine in a geographic area for a period of time after the end of employment. The bill prohibits physicians and hospitals, including their parent companies and affiliated managers, from entering noncompete agreements starting July 1, 2025.
In addition to SB 475, HB 1555 has passed through the legislature and is awaiting Governor action as of the time of writing. HB 1555 establishes a limited medical license for individuals who have graduated from certain international medical programs, obtained a healthcare facility sponsor in an underserved area, and met other criteria. This license allows recipients to practice medicine with a written collaborative agreement with a supervising physician at a healthcare facility in an underserved area. Provisions for revoking the limited license and conversion to an unlimited medical license are also outlined. This new licensure pathway for certain international medical graduates may help augment Indiana’s medical education pipeline to practice. The Bowen Center completed several research reports on Indiana’s medical pipeline and how it compares to other states. This research showed that Indiana is falling behind in capacity of medical students and residents but leading the way in retaining medical students and residents who train here.
Behavioral Health
When we look at behavioral health, SEA 462 has been signed by the Governor and is now public law. SEA 462 modifies the definition of a practitioner as it relates to behavior analysts while the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency prepares to implement licensure for these professionals.
Additionally, SB 216 has passed both chambers and is awaiting Governor’s action. This bill removes language requiring individuals take the first available licensure examination after graduation and requires an associate license to earn clinical experience hours for individuals seeking licensure as marriage and family therapists, clinical addiction counselors, addiction counselors, or mental health counselors. Confusion around testing and hours earning were frequent topics of stakeholder discussion during the Playbook Project, which included recommendations for strengthening the behavioral health workforce.
Direct Care Workforce
There are several conditions which would disqualify an individual from employment in a health care facility, including a recent felony conviction involving controlled substances. House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1385 provides an exception to this disqualification if the individual is certified as a peer recovery coach and the conviction meets other criteria.
Oral Health Workforce
For the oral health workforce, HB 1031 has passed both chambers and is currently awaiting action from the Governor. This bill modifies the members of the Board of Dentistry and specifies the American Association of Dental Boards as the association the board may participate in. The bill also allows dentists to delegate authority for x-ray imaging to dental assistants in certain correctional settings and cleans up regulation referring to dentists.
It has been an exciting legislative session with a significant focus on health workforce-related bills! The final status of all health workforce related bills can be tracked using the Bowen Bill Brief. The Bowen Center will continue to track all Health Workforce related bills in 2026. Let us know if you have thoughts or want to connect!