republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2021/hb-1203.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Various department of health matters."
description: "Provides that the state department of health (department) may officially be known as the Indiana department of health. Removes by July 1, 2022, appeals panels from the appeals process of department orders. Provides that the executive board or the department's designee may act as the ultimate authority for department matters under the administrative and procedures laws. Provides that the state health commissioner (commissioner) is the appointing authority and director of the department. Provides that any physicians employed by the department are governed by the state ethics commission's conflict of interest requirements. Allows the commissioner to designate in writing employees in the department who are licensed as a physician and may engage in the practice of medicine outside of their official duties. Provides that the state is not liable for any act performed by a physician employed by the department for any medical care provided to a patient by the physician that is provided in an individual capacity as a licensed physician. Removes the executive board of the department from determining the commissioner's salary. Provides that the commissioner's salary is determined by the governor and the state budget agency. Removes the executive board's approval for the commissioner to organize the personnel and functions of the department into divisions and subdivisions. Specifies that the state department of health may release certain information to an Indiana nonprofit entity that performs health data services for health care providers if specified conditions are met. Extends the expiration of the syringe exchange program until July 1, 2026."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1203"
citation: "Indiana HB 1203 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["DRUGS", "Treatment of Drug and Other Substance Abuse", "HEALTH", "Health Care Professionals", "HEALTH", "State Department and Agencies"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ed Charbonneau", "Michael Crider", "Vaneta Becker", "Wendy McNamara"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 30
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-07"
last_action: "2021-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c30f51a1-7af0-4cc4-a67b-0c885a637443"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1203"
source_hash: "259a1a3473adfcf52a6bc9a69f23ff929c71e2864290037a79b0aa4a9e3d1225"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana HB 1203 (2021) — Various department of health matters.

Provides that the state department of health (department) may officially be known as the Indiana department of health. Removes by July 1, 2022, appeals panels from the appeals process of department orders. Provides that the executive board or the department's designee may act as the ultimate authority for department matters under the administrative and procedures laws. Provides that the state health commissioner (commissioner) is the appointing authority and director of the department. Provides that any physicians employed by the department are governed by the state ethics commission's conflict of interest requirements. Allows the commissioner to designate in writing employees in the department who are licensed as a physician and may engage in the practice of medicine outside of their official duties. Provides that the state is not liable for any act performed by a physician employed by the department for any medical care provided to a patient by the physician that is provided in an individual capacity as a licensed physician. Removes the executive board of the department from determining the commissioner's salary. Provides that the commissioner's salary is determined by the governor and the state budget agency. Removes the executive board's approval for the commissioner to organize the personnel and functions of the department into divisions and subdivisions. Specifies that the state department of health may release certain information to an Indiana nonprofit entity that performs health data services for health care providers if specified conditions are met. Extends the expiration of the syringe exchange program until July 1, 2026.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1203/versions/HB1203.04.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1203/versions/HB1203.05.ENRS)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1203/versions/HB1203.02.COMH)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1203/versions/HB1203.03.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1203/versions/HB1203.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1203 - Crider - 3rd Reading — **35–15** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ed Charbonneau — primary (person)
- Michael Crider — primary (person)
- Vaneta Becker — primary (person)
- Wendy McNamara — primary (person)
- Cindy Ledbetter — coauthor (person)
- Edward Clere — coauthor (person)
- Fady Qaddoura — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)
- Rita Fleming — coauthor (person)
- Shelli Yoder — cosponsor (person)
- Steven Davisson — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-07** Coauthored by Representatives Davisson and Clere
- **2021-01-07** Authored by Representative McNamara
- **2021-01-07** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-01-28** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-01** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-01** Rule 105.1 suspended
- **2021-02-01** Representatives Ledbetter C and Fleming added as coauthors
- **2021-02-02** Senate sponsor: Senator Crider
- **2021-02-02** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 46: yeas 93, nays 1 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-03** Referred to the Senate
- **2021-02-18** First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-01** Senator Charbonneau added as second sponsor
- **2021-03-11** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-03-11** Senator Becker added as third sponsor
- **2021-03-11** Senator Yoder added as cosponsor
- **2021-03-15** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-03-18** Placed back on second reading `reading-2`
- **2021-03-18** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2021-03-29** Amendment #1 (Crider) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-03-29** Reread second time: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-03-30** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 290: yeas 35, nays 15 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-01** Senator Qaddoura added as cosponsor
- **2021-04-01** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-08** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-04-12** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 396: yeas 77, nays 3 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-13** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-04-22** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-26** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-26** Public Law 130
- **2021-04-26** Signed by the President of the Senate

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c30f51a1-7af0-4cc4-a67b-0c885a637443`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).