BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2456 (Torrico)
Hearing Date: 8/2/2010 Amended: 7/15/2010
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Health 5-3
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2456 would require the Emergency Medical
Services Authority (EMSA) to develop regulations establishing
standards for policies and procedures applicable to the
functions of emergency medical technicians. The bill would also
permit an emergency medical services (EMS) provider or a local
EMS agency to appeal a determination made by EMSA, regarding
these regulations, to the EMS Commission.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
EMSA EMT regulations $400 $700 $700 General*
EMSA ongoing approval Approximately $630 annuallyGeneral
of guidelines January 1, 2014 and ongoing
Commission complaint Approximately $260 annuallyGeneral
resolution monthly meetings January 1, 2014 and ongoing
*EMSA may charge a fee for the promulgation of regulations to
cover costs. However, this bill would require the regulations to
be completed before the fee is imposed.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
This bill would require the Emergency Medical Services Authority
(EMSA), no later than December 31, 2011, to develop regulations
establishing standards for policies and procedures applicable to
the functions of emergency medical technicians (EMTs). It is
unlikely that EMSA would be able to meet with stakeholders and
to promulgate regulations within this timeline. These
regulations and guidelines would establish standards for
policies and procedures applicable to the functions,
certification, and licensure of EMT personnel that provide
objective criteria for local adaptation. They would address
local accreditation, competency skills, medical control for the
use of optional skills, approval of providers utilizing optional
skills, additional training and maintenance of optional skills,
field internships, preceptor evaluation criteria for trainees,
and approval and evaluation of advanced EMT service providers.
It would cost approximately $400,000 in FY 2010-2011 and
$700,000 FY 2011-2012 through January 1, 2014, for EMSA to
promulgate the EMT regulations. Since it would take about 3
years to promulgate regulations, staff recommends that the bill
be amended to require EMSA to promulgate regulations related to
EMT qualification and training standards no later than January
1, 2014, instead of December 31, 2011. In order to pay for the
promulgation of regulations, this bill would permit EMSA to
develop
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AB 2456 (Torrico)
and, after approval by the EMSA Commission, adopt a schedule of
fees to be collected from each EMT certifying entity in amounts
sufficient to support EMSA's actual additional costs. Fees would
be imposed proportionally among certifying entities through
EMT-P licensure fees based on the number of EMT-Is and EMT-IIs
certified by a certifying entity and the number of EMT-Ps
licensed by the authority.
This bill would also permit EMSA to review and approve or
disapprove local EMT standards and polices annually.
Additionally, an emergency medical services (EMS) provider or a
local EMS agency could appeal EMSA's opinion to the EMS
commission. The commission's decision would be final. EMSA would
need approximately $630,000 annually commencing January 1, 2014,
in order to review policies annually. The EMS Commission would
also require resources of approximately $260,000 annually
commencing January 1, 2014, to provide for monthy meetings and
staff support to hear and adjudicate appeals. Since there is no
identified funding source for these ongoing expenses, monies
would be paid by the General Fund.