SB 173 changesHealth care matters.

What changed

+862 / −866 words · LargeConfidence: high

This bill eliminates substantial portions of Indiana's physical therapy practice regulations and insurance claim management requirements. The changes remove mandatory referral requirements that previously required physical therapists to practice only upon orders from physicians, chiropractors, or other specified providers, effectively granting physical therapists direct access to patients. The bill also deletes multiple definitions central to physical therapy practice (including spinal manipulation, supervision types, and competence standards), removes credentialing requirements for specialized testing, and eliminates school-based service authorizations. Additionally, the bill strips away insurance-related provisions including prohibitions on health carriers using affiliated pharmacy benefit managers, restrictions on AI-based adverse determinations by utilization review entities (scheduled for 2026), and an entire chapter regulating the downcoding of medical claims by insurers. The combined effect significantly deregulates physical therapy practice while removing consumer protections in insurance claims processing.

Change log

• SECTION 17 > (1)

  removedhigh confidence

  Prohibition on practicing physical therapy without a license removed

  This section previously prohibited practicing physical therapy without first obtaining a license from the board. The entire prohibition has been removed from the statute. This eliminates the explicit statutory language forbidding unlicensed practice of physical therapy in the state.

• SECTION 16 > (8)

  removedhigh confidence

  Definition of 'spinal manipulation' for physical therapists deleted

  The bill removes the definition of 'spinal manipulation' that previously specified how physical therapists could perform direct thrust movements on spinal joints. This definition described the practice as moving a joint beyond its normal range of motion without exceeding anatomical integrity limits. The removal of this definition may indicate a change in physical therapy scope of practice regulations.

• SECTION 16 > (9)

  removedhigh confidence

  Definition of 'Tasks' removed from physical therapy terminology

  The statute previously defined 'Tasks' as activities that do not require clinical decision making by a physical therapist or clinical problem solving by a physical therapist assistant. This definition has been removed entirely from the section. The removal eliminates the formal statutory distinction between tasks and other activities in physical therapy practice.

• SECTION 16 > (10)

  removed