BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 800
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
800 (Committee on Business, Professions and Economic
Development)
As Amended July 16, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 36-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Business & |14-0 |Bonilla, Jones, | |
|Professions | |Baker, Bloom, Campos, | |
| | |Chang, Dodd, Eggman, | |
| | |Gatto, Holden, | |
| | |Mullin, Ting, Wilk, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Gordon, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
SB 800
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| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Makes numerous substantive, technical, and minor
non-controversial changes to various provisions of the healing
arts boards regulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA). Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes the following changes related to the name of the Dental
Board of California and the Dental Hygiene Committee of
California (DHCC):
a) Replaces the name of the regulatory entity "Board of
Dental Examiners" with the "Dental Board of California."
b) Repeals the fee for examination provision for third and
fourth year dental students for licensure as a registered
dental hygienist.
c) Adds a feasibility study review in addition to a
curriculum review and site evaluation for educational
programs for dental hygienists who are not accredited by a
DHCC-approved agency, as specified.
2)Makes the following changes related to the Medical Board of
California (MBC) and the Medical Practice Act:
a) Deletes an outdated reference to a repealed pilot
program.
b) Requires an individual to apply for a new license who
voluntarily cancels his or her license or who fails to
renew his or her license within five years after its
expiration.
c) Updates the name of the "San Diego Psychoanalytic
Institute" to the "San Diego Psychoanalytic Center."
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d) Deletes the requirement that physical therapist
education include at least 18 weeks of full-time experience
with a variety of patients.
e) Changes the name of the "Diversion Program" to the
"Intervention Program" for registered nurses.
f) Repeals title act specifications for nurse
practitioners.
g) Deletes an outdated reference to an educational
institution.
3)Makes the following changes related to the Board of Optometry
(BOO) and the Optometric Practice Act:
a) Deletes the requirement for an applicant for licensure
as an optometrist to submit proof that he or she has been
in active practice in the state in which he or she is
licensed for a total of 5,000 hours, as specified.
b) Clarifies that the BOO may grant a license to practice
optometry to an optometrist that has not had his or her
license revoked or suspended in any state where the person
holds a license, in addition to meeting other requirements.
c) Specifies that an applicant for licensure as an
optometrist has no specified drug or mental impairment as
determined by a licensed psychologist or licensed
psychiatrist instead of a licensed physician.
4)Makes the following change related to the Physician Assistant
Board (PAB):
a) Replaces the titles "Chairperson" and "Vice Chairperson"
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with "President" and "Vice president."
5)Makes the following changes related to the Veterinary Medical
Board (VMB):
a) Authorizes the VMB to deny, in addition to revoke or
suspend, a controlled substance permit for specified
reasons.
b) Prohibits a petition from being considered for
reinstatement or modification of a penalty by the VMB if
the petitioner is under sentence for any criminal offense,
as specified.
6)Makes the following changes related to the Board of
Acupuncture (CAB):
a) Removes Canada as the domestic equivalent to the United
States in regard to documenting training and educational
experience for applicants for licensure as an acupuncturist
in California and includes Canada in the requirement for
the CAB to establish standards for the approval of
educational training and clinical experience outside of the
United States.
7)Makes the following changes related to the Board of Behavioral
Sciences (BBS):
a) Requires the 12-hour law and ethics course required for
licensure as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
(LMFT), Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), Licensed
Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), or Licensed
Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) to be taken from a continuing
education provider specified by the BBS through regulation.
b) Prohibits an applicant for licensure as an LMFT or LPCC
from being employed or volunteering in a private practice
until registered with the BBS as an intern.
c) Repeals a specified list of continuing education
providers and instead defines other continuing education
providers as those approved by the BBS in regulation.
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d) States that marriage and family therapist registrant
interns, professional clinical counselor, and associate
clinical social worker registrants may apply for, and
receive, a subsequent registration number instead of a new
registration number, as specified.
8)Makes the following changes related to the Telephone Medical
Advice Services Bureau (TMASB):
a) Deletes references to in-state and out-of-state
registrants.
b) Adds Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) and LPCCs to the list of
qualified medical advice service providers.
c) Adds the following to the list of requirements in order
to obtain and maintain a registration as a telephone
medical advice service:
d) Notifying the department within 30 days of any change of
name, physical location, mailing address, or telephone
number of any business, owner, partner, corporate officer,
or agent for service of process in California, together
with copies of all resolutions or other written
communications that substantiate changes; and,
e) Submitting quarterly reports, on a form prescribed by
the Department, to the Department within 30 days of the end
of each calendar quarter.
9)Makes numerous technical, substantive, and conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in negligible state fiscal
effect.
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COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill is the annual Omnibus Committee bill
authored by the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee which consolidates a number of
non-controversial provisions related to various regulatory
programs and professions governed by the [Business and
Professions Code (BPC)] within the DCA. Consolidating the
provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various
licensing Boards, bureaus and professions from the necessity and
burden of having separate measures for a number of
non-controversial revisions. As noted by the author, many of
the provisions in this bill are minor and technical changes
which update outdated references or titles in existing law.
Other provisions may be substantive consensus changes which aim
to improve the efficacy of the various healing arts entities in
administering and enforcing the provisions of their respective
licensing laws.
Dental Hygiene Committee of California. The DHCC has the
authority over all aspects of the licensing and regulation of
dental hygienists, including enforcement and investigation and
the approval of educational programs that provide the
prerequisite education to become a licensed dental hygienist.
The DHCC also develops and administers written and clinical
licensing examinations and conducts occupational analyses of the
various professional categories.
This bill updates the BPC to strike outdated references to the
Board of Dental Examiners with its current title as the Dental
Board of California (DBC). This bill clarifies that the DHCC is
a separate entity from the DBC and must separately create and
maintain a central file of the names of all persons who hold a
license, certificate or similar authority from that "board."
This bill also repeals the fee for examination for licensure as
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a registered dental hygienist for third and fourth year dental
students.
Medical Board of California. The MBC is the regulatory entity
responsible for regulating physician and surgeons and a number
of other allied health professionals. The jurisdiction of the
MBC includes issuing licenses and certificates, the
administration and hearing of disciplinary actions, and carrying
out disciplinary actions as determined by the appropriate panel
or ALJ including suspending, revoking, or otherwise limiting
certificates after the conclusion of disciplinary actions. This
bill would specify that a person who voluntarily cancels his or
her license or who fails to renew within five years may not
renew the license, but must instead reapply for licensure.
Board of Optometry. The BOO licenses and regulates optometrists
in California. In order to become licensed as an optometrist an
individual must graduate from an accredited school or college of
optometry, take and pass a three-part national board examination
and take and pass a California state examination. For those
optometrists licensed outside of California who seek licensure
in this state, they are required to meet the same provisions
above, but also meet other requirements including having a
license in good standing in another state, never had his or her
license revoked, and submit proof that he or she has been in
active practice for at least 5,000 hours in five of the seven
consecutive years immediately preceding the date of his or her
application.
According to the author, the certification form for identifying
the 5,000 hours includes information pertaining to each worksite
where the hours were earned, such as worksite addresses, dates,
and number of hours worked at each location. The applicant signs
this certification under penalty of perjury that the information
is true and correct. However, no supporting information is
required to substantiate that the information provided is true.
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This requirement is now considered obsolete by the BOO and
inconsistent with the licensing requirements for new graduates.
This bill will delete the requirement that out-of-state
applicants submit proof of 5,000 hours of experience from
outside the state.
Physician Assistant Board. The PAB is responsible for the
licensing and regulation of physician assistants. The PAB is
comprised of nine members, five professional and four public.
This bill revises the current requirement that the PAB appoint a
"chairperson" and "vice chairperson" and instead requires the
PAB to appoint a "president" and "vice president" respectively.
Veterinary Medical Board. The VMB licenses and regulates
veterinarians, RVTs, schools and programs along with veterinary
premises and hospitals through the enforcement of the California
Veterinary Medicine Practice Act. The VMB develops and enforces
the standards for examinations, licensing, and hospital and
school inspections. This bill makes minor and technical changes
pertaining to applications for a veterinary controlled substance
permit and specifies that a petition for reinstatement or
modification of a penalty may not be considered for a petitioner
who is under sentence for any criminal offense as specified.
Board of Acupuncture. In order to be licensed as an
acupuncturist in California, an applicant must be at least 18
years of age and complete either an educational and training
program that includes 3,000 hours of study in the practice of
acupuncture, or a supervised tutorial program which is approved
by the CAB. This bill would allow graduates from Canadian
Acupuncture Training programs to apply as foreign applicants to
take the California Acupuncture Licensure Examination.
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Currently, Canada is not included in BPC 4938 (c) as a foreign
training location. As a result, Canadian applicants must meet
other specified requirements. Currently, the CAB does not
extend its school approval to Canadian training programs and
none of the Canadian acupuncture training programs would satisfy
current requirements.
Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS). The BBS regulates four
categories of professionals who perform counseling services
including: LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs. In addition to
providing licensure to qualified candidates the BBS also
registers marriage and family therapist interns, associate
clinical social workers, professional clinical counselor interns
and continuing education providers. The BBS is tasked with
developing and administering the written examination for its
licensure categories along with administering the continuing
education program to ensure professional competency. This bill
will clarify that an LEP or LPCC are registered and subject to
regulation by the BBS. In addition, this bill updates the
statute to be consistent with the BBS's updated regulations
pertaining to continuing education. The BBS no longer approved
continuing education providers and the changes in this bill
reflect the update to the BBS's ne continuing education provider
regulations.
Telephone Medical Advice Services Bureau. The TMASB is
responsible for registering all businesses that employ, contract
or, sub-contract with full-time or five or more persons
functioning as health care professionals and engage in the
business of providing medical advice services over the telephone
to a patient at a California address. In order to be registered
with the TMASB a business must submit an application, a
registration fee, a list of staff providing the medical advice
services, and each business is required to notify the TMASB
within 30 days of any change of name, location, address,
business owner, among others. In order to maintain
registration, a business must comply with multiple requirements
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including ensuring that all persons providing services are
licensed, as specified, maintain records, and comply with all
directions and requests made by the DCA, among others. This
bill will also add to the list of requirements to maintain
registration that the DCA be notified within 30 days of any
changes in address, name, location etcetera, and submit
quarterly report as specified.
Currently, NDs and LPCCs are not included in the list of
licensed healthcare professionals who can provide medical advice
through a TMASB-registered company. This bill adds NDs and
LPCCs to the list of health care professionals that may provide
medical advice services through a Bureau-registered company. In
addition, this bill will delete a reference to in-state and
out-of-state licensed providers because the Bureau does not make
a distinction for in-state or out-of-state registrants.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0001870