HB 2896 Summary

• Establishes a comprehensive health plan expenditure authority fund within the Department of Health Services to track revenues and expenditures for comprehensive medical, dental, and behavioral health services, with capitated payments reverting to the state general fund at fiscal year end.

• Prohibits Arizona and its municipalities from establishing COVID-19 vaccine passports or requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination status, while allowing individuals to request their own vaccination records and permitting health care institutions to require employee vaccination.

• Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with sincerely held religious beliefs preventing COVID-19 vaccination unless accommodation poses undue hardship or more than de minimis cost to business operations.

• Expands the Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers from nine to eleven members, adding representatives for elderly advocacy organizations and family members of facility residents, and requires department of health services approval for all new licenses and certifications.

• Establishes a Sexual Violence Service Fund administered by the Department of Economic Security to provide grants to service providers for victims of sexual violence, with fund allocation methodology developed in consultation with the federally designated statewide coalition to end sexual violence.