BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1310
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1310 (Hernandez) - As Amended: April 2, 2009
Policy Committee: Business &
Professions Vote: 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires healing arts boards, within the California
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), to collect specified
personal, demographic, and practice information about health
professions licensees on applications for initial licensure or
renewal. In addition, this bill requires a report to the
Legislature in 2012 about the information collected. The boards
addressed by this bill are:
Acupuncture Board
Dental Hygiene Committee
Dental Board
Medical Board
Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine
Board of Occupational Therapy
State Board of Optometry
Osteopathic Medical Board
Board of Pharmacy
Physical Therapy Board
Physician Assistant Committee
AB 1310
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Board of Podiatric Medicine
Board of Psychology
Board of Registered Nursing
Respiratory Care Board
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board
Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual fee-supported staffing costs of $1.5 million to $2
million, combined, to the various healing arts boards
addressed by this bill. Costs are associated with processing
additional information on applications, printing and postage,
database changes, information technology, and office support.
These costs create pressure on annual licensing fees charged
to health professionals.
2)To provide some context for the scope of this bill and the
data requirements, the following are some of the figures for
various healing arts boards' licensees: 124,000 physicians and
surgeons, 6,600 optometrists, 52,000 pharmacy technicians, and
343,000 registered nurses.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the author to bring more
specificity to current law health professions work force
issues and programs addressed in SB 139 (Scott), Chapter 522,
Statutes of 2007 and administered by the Office of Statewide
Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). AB 139 required OSHPD
to establish a health care workforce data clearinghouse to be
funded through the California Health Data and Planning Fund.
OSHPD administers programs addressing health care community
development, construction, quality and cost indicators, and
rural issues. OSHPD also administers workforce related
programs such as the Health Manpower Pilot Projects Program,
the Song-Brown Program, the Health Careers Training Program,
and the Health Professions Education Foundation.
AB 1310
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Under current law there is no mandate regarding the collection
of the data addressed in this bill and the submission of such
data to the OSHPD health care clearinghouse. This bill
increases the availability and transparency of information
about California's health work force.
2)Certain Provider Groups Underrepresented . According to a
recent report by the University of California, the state faces
a shortfall of up to 17,000 physicians by 2015. The factors
attributing to a provider shortage include population growth,
aging of the current provider work force, and a lack of
capacity in training programs. In addition to the provider
shortage, health care professionals are not proportionately
representative of the populations they serve. For example,
while African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans make up
more than 25% of the national population, only 9% of the
nation's nurses, 6% of its physicians, and 5% of dentists are
from these same ethnic groups. A linkage has been established
through several research studies between a shortage of health
professionals of color and health disparities.
3)Related Legislation . SB 43 (Alquist), pending in the Senate,
permits a healing arts board to collect information regarding
the cultural and linguistic competency of licensed health
professionals.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081