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H 4343

Human trafficking awareness and prevention training

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Terry Alexander and 21 co-sponsors

Requires a one-hour CE on human trafficking awareness for nurses, physicians, and PAs at license renewal, phased in by 2026, covering identification, reporting, and victim care.

Act No. 106
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · H 4343

Summary — H 4343 (titled "Human trafficking awareness and prevention training")

Note up front: the version material provided contains text from two different measures. One set of pages is a South Carolina draft that would add continuing‑education requirements on human‑trafficking awareness for health professionals. Intermingled with that is an unrelated Massachusetts House draft (titled “An Act ensuring access to full spectrum pregnancy care”) that amends multiple state insurance statutes to add licensed midwives and to remove certain “abortion or abortion‑related care” limitations. The summary below focuses on the human‑trafficking training measure (consistent with the bill title and most of the legislative history you provided) and ends with a brief note on the unrelated Massachusetts insurance text.

Overview

H 4343 would require a one‑hour continuing education (CE) course on human trafficking awareness and prevention as part of licensure renewal (and certain reinstatement/reactivation processes) for several categories of licensed health professionals. The course must be approved by the relevant state licensing board and must cover identification, reporting law, and victim care/support. Boards are authorized to adopt implementing rules. The act is structured to phase in completion deadlines and set a re‑training interval of every six years.

Key provisions

  • Required course length: one hour of CE on human trafficking awareness and prevention.
  • Covered licensees:
    • Nurses: licensed practical nurses (LPN), registered nurses (RN), and advanced practice registered nurses (APRN). Some drafts expressly exclude certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).
    • Physicians: obligation appears in some drafts to apply particularly to physicians practicing emergency medicine, primary care, internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, hospitalists and those working in public health clinics, EDs, urgent care, and community‑based centers.
    • Physician assistants (PAs).
  • Timing:
    • Persons licensed before Jan 1, 2026 must complete the course before Jan 1, 2028 and every six years thereafter.
    • Persons initially licensed on/after Jan 1, 2026 must complete it within two years after initial licensure and every six years thereafter.
  • Providers and approvals:
    • Nursing CE: provider must be approved by the State Board of Nursing.
    • Physician CE: permitted providers include ACCME‑recognized statewide CME organizations, statewide organizations approved by national accreditors, or organizations approved by the State Board of Medical Examiners.
    • PA CE: provider must be approved by the State Board of Medical Examiners.
  • Course content (required):
    • How to identify suspected trafficking victims;
    • Applicable laws and reporting requirements for suspected victims;
    • How to provide care and support to potential trafficking victims.
  • Rulemaking: State Board of Nursing and State Board of Medical Examiners must adopt implementing rules.
  • Effective date shown in the drafts: January 1, 2026.

Who would be affected

  • Licensed health professionals described above (nurses, physicians in specified specialties/settings, and physician assistants) — they would need to include the one‑hour training among their CE for renewal/reinstatement.
  • CE providers and professional societies — must seek board approval and develop compliant course material.
  • Licensing boards — required to adopt rules and oversee compliance.

Implementation & likely impacts

  • Administrative: boards must establish approval processes and compliance monitoring.
  • Professional practice: modest CE time commitment (one hour) aimed at increasing front‑line detection and appropriate response to trafficking victims.
  • Fiscal: minimal direct cost per licensee (standard CE fees); possible modest administrative costs for boards and CE providers to develop/approve courses.

Procedural history (as provided)

  • Introduced and read in April–May 2025; read a third time and sent to the Senate on 2025‑05‑07; referred to Committee on Medical Affairs; amended and reported by committee May–July 2025 (records show amendments and favorable reports on various dates). (Note: the package shows multiple draft versions dated April–May 2025 and committee activity through July 31, 2025.)

Additional note — unrelated Massachusetts insurance text included

The packet also contains Massachusetts House draft language (House No. 4343 / new draft of H1311) described as “An Act ensuring access to full spectrum pregnancy care.” That text amends multiple Massachusetts insurance statutes to:
- Add “licensed certified professional midwife” (and similar licensed midwife references) to coverage language,
- Remove the phrase “for abortion or abortion‑related care” from certain coverage exclusions,
- Require insurance regulators/commissioners to ensure plan compliance,
- Apply to policies delivered, issued, or renewed six months after the act’s effective date.

If you want, I can (1) prepare a focused one‑page brief just on the South Carolina human‑trafficking CE bill, (2) produce a separate concise summary of the Massachusetts insurance/midwife provisions, or (3) help reconcile which text corresponds to H 4343 in the relevant jurisdiction.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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