Bill Description: House Bill 641 allows chiropractic veterinary allied health professionals to market their services, and repeals restrictions on how they provide services at the direction of a veterinarian.

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Does it give government any new, additional, or expanded power to prohibit, restrict, or regulate activities in the free market?

Under Section 54-2103 of Idaho Code, allied health professionals in a veterinary field may not advertise their services or their professional title. The logic behind that law is that such advertisements might lead consumers to believe that these individuals are licensed professionals. While they are not licensed, these professionals are certified to provide services at the direction of a licensed veterinarian. In some cases, they may render care without the supervision of a licensed professional if they receive sufficient instruction from that person. But existing law makes it illegal for these professionals to market the services they are qualified to provide, which limits the reach of their services.

HB 641 grants more freedom to chiropractic veterinary allied health professionals when marketing services they would otherwise be legal. This reduces the government’s intervention in the free market, and expands the availability of animal health care throughout Idaho.

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HB 641 reduces regulations on a specific class of allied health professionals:  chiropractic veterinary workers. It does this by repealing a requirement  for them to receive written or oral instruction before administering services in an unsupervised setting.  Only those allied health professionals who meet the basic requirements outlined in this bill for marketing their services may operate without this instruction.

This provision expands autonomy in the relationship between veterinarians, allied health professionals, and their clients as they set their own terms for oversight and ensuring that services are properly rendered.

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Does it increase government redistribution of wealth?

A negative aspect of HB 641 is that it does carve out these exemptions for specific groups of veterinary allied health professionals. Specifically, the new law would only apply to those who work in animal chiropractics. This excludes other professionals who are certified to provide services at the direction of veterinarians. If these other types of allied health professionals may provide services in an unsupervised environment, it would be difficult to argue that they do not deserve the same ability to market their services.

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