1-1 By: Cain S.B. No. 1301
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1995; March 20, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services;
1-4 April 20, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 20, 1995,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1301 By: Madla
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to physician licensing, including the notice and late fee
1-11 requirements for the annual registration of physician licenses, the
1-12 temporary licensure of certain out-of-state physicians, and the
1-13 licensure of certain international medical graduates.
1-14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-15 SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 3.01, Medical Practice
1-16 Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
1-17 read as follows:
1-18 (c)(1) A person may renew an unexpired license by paying to
1-19 the board on or before the expiration date of the license the
1-20 required renewal fee.
1-21 (2) If a person's license has been expired for 90 days
1-22 or less, the person may renew the license by paying to the board
1-23 the required renewal fee and a fee that is one-half of the annual
1-24 registration fee as established by the board under Section
1-25 3.10(b)(7) of this Act <examination fee for the license>.
1-26 (3) If a person's license has been expired for longer
1-27 than 90 days but less than one year, the person may renew the
1-28 license by paying to the board all unpaid renewal fees and a fee
1-29 that is equal to the annual registration fee as established by the
1-30 board under Section 3.10(b)(7) of this Act <examination fee for the
1-31 license>.
1-32 (4) If a person's license has been expired for one
1-33 year, it is considered to have been canceled, unless an
1-34 investigation is pending, and the person may not renew the license.
1-35 The person may obtain a new license by submitting to reexamination
1-36 and complying with the requirements and procedures for obtaining an
1-37 original license.
1-38 (5) The board may renew without examination an expired
1-39 license of a person who was licensed in this state, moved to
1-40 another state, and is currently licensed and has been in practice
1-41 in the other state for not more than two years preceding
1-42 application. The person must pay to the board a fee that is equal
1-43 to the examination fee for the license.
1-44 (6) The board shall provide written notice to each
1-45 practitioner at the practitioner's last known address according to
1-46 the records of the board at least 30 days prior to the expiration
1-47 date of a license and shall provide for a 30-day grace period for
1-48 payment of the annual registration fee from the date of the
1-49 expiration of the license.
1-50 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 3.025, Medical Practice
1-51 Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
1-52 read as follows:
1-53 (a) The board by rule shall adopt, monitor, and enforce a
1-54 reporting program for continuing medical education of licensees.
1-55 The board shall adopt and administer rules:
1-56 (1) requiring the number of hours of continuing
1-57 medical education the board determines appropriate as a
1-58 prerequisite to the annual registration of a licensee under this
1-59 Act;
1-60 (2) requiring at least one-half of the hours of
1-61 continuing medical education required under Subdivision (1) of this
1-62 subsection to be approved by the board after taking into account
1-63 the standards of the American Medical Association for its
1-64 Physician's Recognition Award<, the Council on Medical Specialty
1-65 Societies,> or the American Osteopathic Association and permitting
1-66 the remaining hours to be composed of self-study or equivalent
1-67 self-directed continuing medical education according to guidelines
1-68 determined by the board; and
2-1 (3) adopting a process to assess a licensee's
2-2 participation in continuing medical education courses.
2-3 SECTION 3. Section 3.0305, Medical Practice Act (Article
2-4 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
2-5 follows:
2-6 Sec. 3.0305. Temporary License for Out-of-State
2-7 Practitioners. (a) On application, an applicant for licensure
2-8 <the board> shall be granted one <grant a> temporary license to
2-9 practice medicine. An applicant for a temporary license under this
2-10 section must:
2-11 (1) have a current, active, and unrestricted license,
2-12 without any pending disciplinary matters, as a physician in another
2-13 state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United
2-14 States that has licensing requirements that are substantially
2-15 equivalent to the requirements of this Act;
2-16 (2) have passed a national or other examination
2-17 recognized by the board relating to the practice of medicine; and
2-18 (3) be sponsored by a person licensed by the board
2-19 under this Act with whom the temporary license holder may practice
2-20 under this section.
2-21 (b) An applicant for a temporary license may be excused from
2-22 the requirement of Subsection (a)(3) of this section if the board
2-23 determines that compliance with that subsection constitutes a
2-24 hardship to the applicant.
2-25 (c) A temporary license is valid for 180 days <until the
2-26 date the board approves or denies the temporary license holder's
2-27 application for a license>. The board shall issue a license under
2-28 this Act to the holder of a temporary license under this section
2-29 if:
2-30 (1) the temporary license holder passes the
2-31 examination required by Section 3.05 of this Act;
2-32 (2) the board verifies that the temporary license
2-33 holder has satisfied the academic and experience requirements for a
2-34 license under this Act; and
2-35 (3) the temporary license holder has satisfied any
2-36 other license requirements under this Act.
2-37 (d) The board must assemble the documents and information
2-38 necessary to process a temporary license holder's application for a
2-39 license not later than the 90th day after the date the temporary
2-40 license is issued and complete the processing of the application
2-41 not later than the 90th day after the date the documents and
2-42 information are assembled. If by the 180th day after the date the
2-43 temporary license is issued the board has not completed the
2-44 processing of the application, the board shall review the
2-45 application to determine the cause of the delay. This temporary
2-46 license may be renewed for an additional 180 days at the discretion
2-47 of the executive director.
2-48 SECTION 4. Section 3.04, Medical Practice Act (Article
2-49 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
2-50 Subsections (g), (h), (i), and (j) to read as follows:
2-51 (g) In addition to the other requirements of this section,
2-52 an applicant who is a graduate of a medical school that is located
2-53 outside the United States and Canada and that was not approved by
2-54 the board at the time the degree was conferred must, in order to be
2-55 eligible for the issuance of a license, present satisfactory proof
2-56 to the board that the applicant:
2-57 (1) is a graduate of a school whose curriculum meets
2-58 the requirements for an unapproved medical school as determined by
2-59 a committee of experts selected by the Texas Higher Education
2-60 Coordinating Board;
2-61 (2) has successfully completed three years of graduate
2-62 medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved
2-63 by the board on the date the training was completed;
2-64 (3) is eligible for licensure to practice medicine in
2-65 the country in which the school is located;
2-66 (4) possesses a valid certificate issued by the
2-67 Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates;
2-68 (5) has the ability to communicate in the English
2-69 language; and
2-70 (6) has passed the examination required by the board
3-1 of all applicants for license as required by Section 3.05 of this
3-2 Act.
3-3 (h) The board by rule may establish alternate educational
3-4 prerequisites to those required by Subsection (a)(3) of this
3-5 section for an applicant who graduated from an unapproved medical
3-6 school located outside the United States and Canada.
3-7 (i) In addition to other licensure requirements, the board,
3-8 before approving the applicant, may require by rule that a graduate
3-9 of an unapproved medical school located outside the United States
3-10 and Canada or the school of which the person is a graduate provide
3-11 additional information to the board concerning the school.
3-12 (j) The board may refuse to issue a license to an applicant
3-13 who graduated from an unapproved medical school located outside the
3-14 United States and Canada if it finds that:
3-15 (1) the applicant does not possess the requisite
3-16 qualifications to provide the same standard of medical care as
3-17 provided by a physician licensed in this state; or
3-18 (2) the applicant failed to provide the board evidence
3-19 to establish that the applicant completed medical education or
3-20 professional training substantially equivalent to that provided by
3-21 a medical school in this state.
3-22 SECTION 5. Subsection (i), Section 3.01; Subsection (e),
3-23 Section 3.04; and Sections 5.035 and 5.04, Medical Practice Act
3-24 (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
3-25 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-28 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-29 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-30 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-31 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-32 * * * * *