BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1976
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1976 (Logue) - As Amended: April 11, 2012
SUBJECT : Professions and vocations: licensure and
certification requirements: military experience.
SUMMARY : Establishes the Veterans Health Care Workforce Act of
2012 and imposes specified requirements on healing arts boards
within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) and on the
Department of Public Health (DPH) to facilitate the licensing or
certification of veterans with appropriate health-care related
education, training, or practical experience. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires healing arts boards within DCA to, upon the
presentation of satisfactory evidence by an applicant for
licensure, accept the education, training, and practical
experience completed by an applicant as a member of the United
States (U.S.) Armed Forces or Military Reserves of the U.S.,
the national guard of any state, the military reserves of any
state, or the naval militia of any state, toward the
qualifications and requirements to receive a license issued by
that board unless the board determines that the education,
training, or practical experience is not substantially
equivalent to the standards of the board.
2)Requires, by July 1, 2014, any DCA healing arts board that
accredits or otherwise approves schools offering educational
course credit for meeting licensing qualifications and
requirements to require those schools seeking accreditation or
approval to have procedures in place to fully accept an
applicant's military education, training, and practical
experience toward the completion of an educational program
that would qualify a person to apply for licensure.
3)Requires each DCA healing arts board to determine whether it
is necessary to adopt regulations to implement the above
provisions. If a board determines it is necessary to adopt
regulations, the board shall adopt those regulations not later
than January 1, 2014.
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4)If a board determines it is not necessary to adopt
regulations, the board shall, not later than January 1, 2014,
submit to the Governor and the Legislature a written report
explaining why such regulations are not necessary. This
provision becomes inoperative on January 1, 2017.
5)Requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA)
to provide technical assistance to DCA healing arts boards and
the DCA director with respect to complying with the above
requirements, including the determination of substantial
equivalency between the education, training, or practical
experience of an applicant and the board's standards, and
obtaining state, federal, or private funds to support
compliance with this bill's requirements.
6)Requires the DCA director to submit a written report to the
Governor and the Legislature by January 1, 2016, on the
progress of DCA healing arts boards toward compliance with
this bill's provisions, as specified. This provision becomes
inoperative on January 1, 2017.
7)Establishes identical provisions as outlined above for DPH,
for applicants for licensure or certification in any of the
following professions:
a) Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT);
b) Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS);
c) Radiologic Technologist (RT);
d) Nuclear Medicine Technologist (NMT);
e) Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA);
f) Certified Home Health Aide (HHA);
g) Certified Hemodialysis Technician (CHT); and,
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h) Nursing Home Administrator (NHA).
8)States findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW
1)Provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing
arts professions by boards within DCA.
2)Requires the rules and regulations of these healing arts
boards to provide for methods of evaluating education,
training, and experience obtained in military service if such
training is applicable to the requirements of the particular
profession or vocation regulated by the board.
3)Authorizes DPH to license or certify a number of healing arts
professionals.
4)Specifies that CDVA has specified powers and duties relating
to various programs serving veterans.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, "In order to
honor the service of our nation's returning heroes and address
California's healthcare workforce needs, this bill would ensure
that veterans with healthcare education, training, and practical
experience are expedited into civilian employment as healthcare
professionals.
"This bill would break down barriers facing returning veterans,
by requiring state entities that license healthcare
professionals to establish policies that recognize the
education, training, and practical experience of a veteran
applicant. It would also require these entities to work with
the college programs they accredit to ensure that the colleges
have procedures in place so that veteran applicants are not
forced to retake classes they have already completed at a
military institute, and so that veterans are able to quickly
complete the additional coursework necessary for licensure."
Background . Current law requires DCA's healing arts boards to
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provide for methods of evaluating education, training, and
experience obtained in military service if such training is
applicable to the requirements of the particular profession or
vocation regulated by the board. This requirement is based on
the policy that, consistent with high quality health care
services, persons with skills, knowledge and experience obtained
in the armed services of the United States should be permitted
to apply such learning and contribute to the health manpower
needs of the state at the maximum level of responsibility and
skill for which they are qualified.
Although DPH is not subject to a similar statutory requirement,
DPH reports having procedures in place to evaluate education,
training, and experience obtained in military service for the
professions of MLT, CLS, RT, NMT and CNA. There are currently
no procedures in place for HHAs, CHTs, NHAs.
DPH approves 120 schools for the purposes of training for CLS.
The current procedure requires a laboratory scientist trainee
license for any military applicant who needs further training to
obtain a California CLS license. In issuing this trainee
license, DPH has procedures in place to evaluate military
training and experience of applicants. The schools accept the
scientist trainee license as qualification to enter their
program.
DPH approves 643 CNA training programs, 267 HHA training
programs and 498 Certified CHT training programs. DPH, not the
schools, would approve training, education and experience
equivalency. DPH currently has procedures in place to evaluate
military training, education and experience for CNA applicants,
but not for HHA or CHT applicants.
There are no school programs for NHAs seeking initial licensure.
DPH does approve NHA courses for continuing education
requirements after the individual is licensed. CDPH does not
currently have procedures in place for evaluating military
training, experience, or education for NHA applicants.
CDPH does not have statutory authority to approve NMT schools.
The Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear
Medicine Technology (JRCNMT) accredits these programs. JRCNMT
is the only programmatic accrediting agency recognized to
accredit NMT educational programs offered through traditional
and distance education formats in the U.S. and its territories.
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The JRCNMT holds recognition from the Council for Higher
Education Accreditation.
The Radiologic Health Branch (RHB) within DPH is responsible for
the inspection of RT schools. However, the three branches of
the military have programs for RTs and NMTs. These programs are
accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in
Radiologic Technology (JRCERT), a private accrediting
organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for
the accreditation of educational programs in the radiological
sciences. The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists
(ARRT) is a private certifying organization that accepts
graduates from schools accredited by JRCERT. An RT or NMT
completing the military's programs is qualified to take ARRT's
examination. If a veteran takes and passes the ARRT's
examination, the veteran can then apply to DPH-RHB to obtain the
applicable authorization without taking the DPH examination,
since they have already passed the ARRT's examination. The
veteran is not required to attend an RHB-approved school since
they completed the required training program in the military.
Therefore, schools do not need to have a procedure to accept an
already qualified veteran who participated in and passed a
military RT or NMT program. This bill could apply if someone
from the military, who had been attending a JRCERT accredited
program, left service before completing the program. If he/she
were to apply to finish his/her RT courses, all 41 schools have
procedures in place to assess out of state, out of country, and
military education received to identify what classes would be
needed in order to graduate and become certified.
DPH has no record of any applicants for licensure or
certification for any of the professions specified in the bill
being denied because DPH did not accept the applicant's military
education, training or practical experience toward the
requirements for licensure or certification.
Similar, comprehensive information for DCA's health care boards
was not available at the time this analysis was written.
However, according to the Medical Board of California (MBC), the
MBC does not accredit U.S. medical schools. The requirement is
that applicants must be graduates of a medical school accredited
by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which is
the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical
education programs leading to the MD degree in U.S. and Canadian
medical schools. The LCME is sponsored by the Association of
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American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association.
DCA's boards and bureaus that would be affected by this bill
include the Acupuncture Board, the Board of Behavioral Sciences,
the Board of Occupational Therapy, the Board of Optometry, the
Board of Pharmacy, the Board of Podiatric Medicine, the Board of
Psychology, the Board of Registered Nursing, the Board of
Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, the Dental
Board, the MBC, the Osteopathic Medical Board, the Physical
Therapy Board, the Respiratory Care Board, the Speech-Language
Pathology and Audiology Board, and the Veterinary Medical Board.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education
and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate
service after September 10, 2001, or individuals discharged with
a service-connected disability after 30 days. Veterans must
receive an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11
GI Bill, which went into effect August 1, 2009. Approved
training under the Post-9/11 GI Bill includes graduate and
undergraduate degrees, vocational/technical training, on-the-job
training, flight training, correspondence training, licensing
and national testing programs, entrepreneurship training, and
tutorial assistance. All training programs must be approved for
GI Bill benefits.
According to a September 2011 New York Times editorial by
Hollister K. Petraeus, assistant director for service members
affairs at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
veterans are increasingly being targeted and exploited by
private educational institutions that provide little academic,
administrative, or counseling support after students enroll.
She states, in part: "Vast sums are involved: between 2006 and
2010, the money received in military education benefits by just
20 for-profit companies soared to an estimated $521.2 million
from $66.6 million?The schools have a strong incentive to enroll
service members and veterans, in large part because of the
"90-10 rule" created by the 1998 amendments to the Higher
Education Act. Put simply, the rule says that a for-profit
college must obtain at least 10% of its revenue from a source
other than Title IV education funds, the primary source of
federal student aid. Funds from Tuition Assistance and the G.I.
Bill are not defined as Title IV funds, so they count toward the
10% requirement, just like private sources of financing."
"Therein lies a problem. For every service member or veteran
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(or spouse or child, in the case of the post-9/11 G.I. Bill)
enrolled at a for-profit college and paying with military
education funds, that college can enroll nine others who are
using nothing but Title IV money. This gives for-profit
colleges an incentive to see service members as nothing more
than dollar signs in uniform, and to use aggressive marketing to
draw them in and take out private loans, which students often
need because the federal grants are insufficient to cover the
full cost of tuition and related expenses.
"A number of for-profit colleges have questionable academic
credentials or lack accreditation accepted by other
institutions. This makes it very difficult for students to
transfer credits to other schools. Not surprisingly, for-profit
colleges also tend to have a higher-than-average student loan
default rate, which means that, in the end, the college
experience there may hinder, rather than help, the careers and
financial prospects of their graduates."
At the same time, according to an April 10, 2012, report by
National Public Radio, "Offices serving former military have
popped up at colleges and universities nationwide in response to
the growing number of veterans making the transition to student
life."
According to "U.S. Military and California Health Personnel:
Select Comparisons,"
a 2008 report by the Center for the Health Professions at the
University of California, San Francisco, "As California faces
workforce shortages and geographic mal-distribution in many of
the health care professions, policy makers are looking to
expanding educational programs, rethinking practice models and
improving recruitment and retention efforts among existing and
new pools of workers. One potential pool of health care workers
includes former military personnel returning from active duty or
retiring with years available for service in the civilian labor
force.
"Individuals with military training or experience in health care
may be well-positioned to meet civilian health care needs upon
their separation from service. Most of the military training is
nationally accredited and/or of documented high quality, and a
serviceperson retiring from military duty may still want to work
for many years in the civilian sector. However, current rules
and regulations may present unnecessary challenges. To
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facilitate smooth transitions between military and civilian
work, civilian policy makers and educators might want to explore
better alignment of accreditation, certification and licensure
standards."
Related legislation . AB 1932 (Cook) requires healing arts
boards within DCA to issue a written report to CDVA detailing
the methods of evaluating the education, training, and
experience obtained in military service and whether that
education, training, and experience is applicable to the boards'
requirements for licensure, by January 1, 2014. This bill is
pending in Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee.
Double-referred . This bill is double-referred to Assembly
Veterans Affairs Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State Rural Health Association (sponsor)
American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301