BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 502|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 502
Author: Chau (D)
Amended: 7/16/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/6/15
AYES: Hill, Bates, Berryhill, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Dental hygiene
SOURCE: California Dental Hygienists Association
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the creation of and establishes
rules of governance for a registered dental hygienist in
alternative practice (RDHAP) corporation.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Dental Hygiene Committee of California
(DHCC) within the jurisdiction of the Dental Board of
California (DBC) to administer laws pertaining to dental
hygienists. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) § 1901(a))
2) Authorizes the DHCC to license a person as a RDHAP who
demonstrates satisfactory performance on an examination in
California law and meets either of the following
requirements:
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a) Holds a current California license as a registered
dental hygienist and meets the following requirements:
i) Has been engaged in the practice of dental hygiene
as a registered dental hygienist in any setting,
including, but not limited to, educational settings and
public health settings, for a minimum of 2,000 hours
during the immediately preceding 36 months.
ii) Has successfully completed a bachelor's degree or
its equivalent, as specified, and a minimum of 150 hours
of additional educational requirements.
b) Has received a letter of acceptance into the
employment utilization phase of the Health Manpower Pilot
Project No. 155 established by the Office of Statewide
Health Planning and Development. (BPC § 1922)
3) Authorizes a RDHAP to perform all functions that may be
performed by a registered dental assistant; dental hygiene
assessment and development, planning, and implementation of a
dental hygiene care plan; oral health education; counseling;
health screenings; preventive and therapeutic interventions,
including oral prophylaxis, scaling, and root planing; and
application of topical, therapeutic, and subgingival agents
used for the control of caries and periodontal disease in the
following settings:
a) Residences of the homebound.
b) Schools.
c) Residential facilities and other institutions.
d) Dental health professional shortage areas, as
certified by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development in accordance with existing office guidelines.
(BPC § 1926)
4) Authorizes a RDHAP to operate a mobile dental hygiene
clinic. (BPC §§ 1926.1, 1926.2)
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5) Authorizes a RDHAP to bill insurance and hire other RDHAPs
and dental assistants. (BPC §§ 1928, 1929)
6) Authorizes an association, partnership, corporation, or
group of three or more RDHAPs to practice if it obtains a
permit issued by the DHCC. (BPC § 1962)
7) Authorizes a RDHAP to provide services to a patient without
obtaining written verification that the patient has been
examined by a dentist or physician and surgeon licensed to
practice in this state. (BPC § 1931 (a)(1))
8) Establishes the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act
(Moscone-Knox Act) which regulates the formation and
operation of professional corporations, and defines a
professional corporation as a corporation organized under the
general corporation law, as specified, or a corporation that
is engaged in rendering professional services in a single
profession. (Corporations Code (CORP) §§ 13400 et seq.)
9) Specifies in the Moscone-Knox Act that certain licensed
persons may be shareholders, officers, directors or
professional employees of professional corporations
controlled by licensed persons of a different profession so
long as the sum of all shares owned by those certain licensed
persons does not exceed 49% of the total number of shares of
the professional corporation, and so long as the number of
those certain licensed persons owning shares in the
professional corporation does not exceed the number of
persons licensed by the governmental agency regulating the
designated professional corporation. (CORP § 13401.5)
10)Specifies that the Moscone-Knox Act does not limit
employment by a professional corporation of only those
licensed professionals listed. Any healing arts licensee may
be employed to render professional services by a professional
corporation designated, as specified. (CORP § 13401.5)
This bill:
1) Authorizes a RDHAP to practice as an employee of a
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Page 4
professional corporation under the Moscone-Knox Act.
2) States that a RDHAP corporation is a professional
corporation that is authorized to render professional
services, as specified, so long as that professional
corporation and its shareholders, officers, directors, and
professional employees rendering professional services are in
compliance with the Moscone-Knox Act and other applicable
laws and regulations.
3) Declares the violation of, attempt to violate, directly or
indirectly, assist in or abet the violation of, or conspire
to violate any provision or term laws and regulations
relating to the practice of a RDHAP to be unprofessional
conduct.
4) Prohibits a RDHAP from doing or failing to do anything that
would constitute unprofessional conduct, as specified.
5) Prohibits a shareholder who is disqualified from providing
professional services from deriving benefit from a RDHAP
corporation attributable to professional services rendered
while a shareholder is a disqualified person.
6) Requires the bylaws of a RDHAP corporation to include a
provision whereby the capital stock owned by a disqualified
person or a deceased person be sold to the professional
corporation or to the remaining shareholders of the
professional corporation not later than 90 days after
disqualification, if the shareholder becomes a disqualified
person, or not later than six months after death, if the
shareholder becomes deceased.
7) Requires a RDHAP to provide adequate security by insurance
or otherwise for claims against it by its patients arising
out of the rendering of professional services.
8) Exempts a professional corporation rendering professional
services by persons licensed by the DHCC from any requirement
to obtain a certificate of registration in order to render
those professional services.
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9) Authorizes the creation of a RDHAP professional corporation
and states that a dental assistant, licensed dentist,
registered dental hygienist, or registered dental hygienist
in extended functions may be a shareholder, officer,
director, or professional employee of the professional
corporations so long as the sum of all shares owned by those
licensed persons does not exceed 49 percent of the total
number of shares of the professional corporation, and so long
as the number of those licensed persons owning shares in the
professional corporation does not exceed the number of
persons licensed by the governmental agency regulating the
designated professional corporation.
10)Makes clarifying and technical amendments.
Background
RDHAP. Dental hygienists clean teeth, examine patients for
signs of oral diseases such as gingivitis, and provide other
preventative dental care. They also educate patients on ways to
improve and maintain good oral health.
An RDHAP is dental hygienist who has a baccalaureate degree,
completed a DBC-approved continuing education course and passed
a state licensure examination to practice independently in
underserved settings. These settings are defined as Dental
Health Professional Shortage Areas, residences of the homebound,
nursing homes, hospitals, residential care facilities, and other
public health settings. RDHAPs may independently provide all
services that, as a registered dental hygienist, they are
licensed to provide under general supervision. RDHAPs must have
a "dentist of record" on file with the Dental Hygiene Committee
of California to gain licensure. This documented relationship
is for referral, consultation, and emergency services.
RDHAPs can provide dental hygiene services to patients for 18
months without involvement of a dentist or physician. If an
RDHAP continues to provide services to that patient, he or she
is required to obtain written verification that the patient has
been examined by a dentist or physician licensed to practice in
the state and a prescription for further services. There are
currently 508 licensed RDHAPs in California.
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Professional corporations. Although existing law appears to
authorize RDHAPs to incorporate, DHCC's Web site explicitly
states that they may not because they are not included in the
Moscone-Knox Professional Corporations Act of 1968.
A professional corporation is an organization made up of
individuals of the same trade or profession. The Moscone-Knox
Act authorized the formation of professional corporations to
obtain certain benefits of the corporate form of doing business,
such as limited legal liability. At that time, only medical,
law and dental professional corporations were envisioned. There
are now 16 authorized healing arts professional corporations.
Existing law specifies which healing arts licensees may be
shareholders, officers, directors or professional employees of
professional corporations controlled by a differing profession
so long as the sum of all shares owned by those licensed persons
does not exceed 49% of the total number of shares of the
professional corporation.
This bill authorizes the creation of a RDHAP corporation and
permits a dental assistant, licensed dentist, registered dental
hygienist, or registered dental hygienist in extended functions
to be a shareholder, officer, director or professional employee
of the professional corporation, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:
Yes Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, any costs to
the California Department of Insurance and the Department of
Managed Health Care to assess compliance with this bill's
requirements are expected to be minor and absorbable.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15)
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California Dental Hygienists' Association (source)
California Dental Association
Dental Hygiene Committee of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The source of this bill, the California
Dental Hygienists' Association support passage of this bill
because, "The [RDHAPs] have successfully provided dental hygiene
care in California for over 15 years. It's time to update the
statute to address roadblocks to care that have become
apparent."
The California Dental Association states, "The Corporations Code
does not currently recognize the ability authorized in the
Business and Professions Code for RDHAPs to legally incorporate,
and AB 502 will align these two code sections, providing clarity
and protection for RDHAPs."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/04/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
Prepared by: Sarah Huchel / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
AB 502
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8/21/15 9:33:46
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