BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2386
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
William W. Monning, Chair
AB 2386 (Gilmore and Cook) - As Amended: April 14, 2010
SUBJECT : Armed Forces: medical personnel.
SUMMARY : Allows a hospital to enter into an agreement with the
Armed Forces of the United States (Armed Forces) to authorize a
physician, surgeon, physician assistant, or registered nurse
(health care professional) to provide medical care in the
hospital under specified circumstances. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Authorizes a hospital to enter in an agreement with the Armed
Forces to authorize a health care professional to provide
medical care in the hospital if all of the following apply:
a) The health care professional holds a valid license in
good standing to provide medical care in the District of
Columbia or any state or territory of the United States;
b) The medical care is provided as part of a training or
educational program designed to further the employment of
the health care professional; and,
c) The agreement complies with specified federal law,
guidelines, and regulations.
2)States that if a hospital chooses to enter into an agreement
specified above, no board that licenses health care
professionals may require the specified health care
professional to obtain or maintain any license to practice his
or her profession or provide services in California.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a physician and surgeon who is not licensed in
California but who is a commissioned officer on active duty in
the medical corps of any branch of the armed forces to
practice medicine as part of a residency, fellowship, or
clinical training program under specified conditions.
2)Existing federal law authorizes a health care professional, as
AB 2386
Page 2
defined, to practice his or her health profession in any state
or territory without licensure by that state if he or she has
a current license to practice the health profession and is
performing authorized duties for the Department of Defense.
3)Existing federal regulations establish specified procedures to
promote cooperation and good will with State licensing boards.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, this bill
would provide the statutory framework to allow military health
care professionals to improve their skills prior to being
deployed to war. The author states that a similar successful
model was achieved in Nevada in 2009, in which a program was
created at the UMC Trauma Center near Nellis Air Force Base.
The program was very popular and mutually beneficial to the
hospital because the Air Force was able to provide
fully-trained and certified physicians free of charge.
2)BACKGROUND . In 2009, the Nevada State Legislature passed
Senate Bill 302, which is similar to this bill. Senate Bill
302 authorized a hospital to enter into an agreement with the
Armed Forces to allow a medical officer to provide medical
care in the hospital under specified conditions. In testimony
before the Nevada State Assembly Committee on Health and Human
Services, the sponsors of the bill, the United States Air
Force, stated that this bill would greatly benefit the
military by giving its physicians, many of whom are new, the
volume and diversity of medical calls and patient care that
just do not exist on the base and the opportunity to hone
their skills. Additionally, The Air Force stated that the
bill would benefit the county hospitals by adding additional
licensed physicians in the emergency rooms.
3)SUPPORT . According to the California Association of County
Veterans Service Officers this bill will give military health
care providers important practice in handling traumatic
injuries before being deployed into a war zone. Additionally,
this bill will improve access to appropriately trained
military health providers in civilian hospitals.
AB 2386
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4)TECHNICAL AMENDMENT . On page 2, line 12, strike out "further
the employment of" and insert "promote combat readiness."
5)POLICY COMMENT . This bill is modeled after a Nevada law that
the Legislature passed in 2009. Given the fact that little
information is known about the outcome of the Nevada law, this
bill should be amended to include a sunset to provide an
opportunity for future legislative review.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Academy of Physician Assistants
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Martin Radosevich / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097