BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair AB 512 (Rendon) - Healing arts: licensure exemption. Amended: As introduced. Policy Vote: B&P 10-0 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: June 24, 2013 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 512 would extend the sunset on current law which exempts certain out-of-state health care providers from California licensing requirements, provided that the out-of-state health care provider is volunteering care for uninsured or underinsured individuals. Fiscal Impact: Likely one-time costs between $40,000 and $75,000 for the adoption of regulations by the Acupuncture Board (Acupuncture Fund). Likely one-time costs between $40,000 and $75,000 for the adoption of regulations by the Osteopathic Medical Board (Osteopathic Medical Board of California Contingent Fund). Likely one-time costs between $40,000 and $75,000 for the adoption of regulations by the Naturopathic Medical Committee (Naturopathic Doctors Fund). Minor ongoing costs to various licensing boards (various funds). The boards that have adopted regulations to implement the existing exemption have had only a few applications to participate. Extending this program is not likely to result in significant ongoing workload to the various licensing boards. Background: Under current law (AB 2699, Bass, Statutes of 2010), health care practitioners who are licensed or certified in other states are allowed to provide health care services in California on a voluntary basis without meeting California licensing or AB 512 (Rendon) Page 1 certification requirements, provided specified conditions are met. For example, the care must be provided to the uninsured or underinsured, it must be provided at an organized health care event, and the practitioner must receive authorization from the appropriate licensing board. These provisions of current law sunset on January 1, 2014. In order to implement AB 2699, the Medical Board, the Dental Board, the Board of Registered Nursing, the Board of Optometry, and the Dental Hygiene Committee have adopted implementing regulations. The Physician Assistant Board is in the process of adopting regulations. The Acupuncture Board, the Osteopathic Medical Board, and the Naturopathic Medical Committee have not yet adopted regulations. Proposed Law: AB 512 would extend the sunset on current law which exempts certain out-of-state health care providers from California licensing requirements, provided specified conditions are met. Staff Comments: Since regulations were adopted by the Medical Board last year, only one physician has applied to participate and the Dental Board has had six applications since its regulations went into effect. Given these experiences, the overall workload to the various boards is not likely to be significant if this program is extended.