BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 773 (Baker) - Licenses: Medical Board of California: Board
of Psychology
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|Version: June 1, 2015 |Policy Vote: B., P. & E.D. 9 - |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: June 22, 2015 |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 773 would revise the expiration date for certain
licenses issued by the Medical Board of California and the Board
of Psychology, to ensure that the initial licensing period is a
full two years.
Fiscal
Impact:
Annual revenue losses to the Medical Board of California of
about $1.1 million per year for licenses issued to physicians
(Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California). Under
current practice, applicants for initial licensure with the
Medical Board pay a licensing fee of $808 (the license renewal
fee is $820). The initial license is valid from the license
issuance date until the last day of the licensee's birth month
AB 773 (Baker) Page 1 of
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in the second year of the two-year license term. Upon renewal
of the license, the license will expire on the last day of the
licensee's birth month, every other year. In practice, this
means that the initial licensure period will vary from person
to person, depending on when the applicant initially applied
for licensure and when the applicant's birth month occurs.
Some licensees will have an initial licensure period of just
over one year, whereas others will have up to a full two
years. In effect, the Medical Board is able to collect a
two-year license fee for less than two years of licensure. (On
average, this should be about 18 months of licensure.)
By shifting to a true two-year licensure program, the initial
licensure period will be extended, and the Medical Board will
receive reduced annual fee revenues for license renewals. On
average, the revenue loss would equate to about 25% of the
renewal licensing fee (about $200). Since there are about
5,000 applicants for new licensure as physicians each year,
annual revenue losses are projected to be about $1.1 million
per year. Revenue losses attributable to other, allied health
professionals are expected to be minor.
Annual revenue losses to the Board of Psychology of about
$80,000 per year (Psychology Fund). Similar to the Medical
Board, the Board of Psychology will experience reduced fee
revenues of about $100 per year for each of the 800 applicants
for new licensure each year.
Background: The Medical Board of California licenses physicians and
surgeons, as well as a variety of allied health professionals
such as licensed midwives and dispensing opticians. Under
current practice, the initial license granted by the Medical
Board is valid for one full year and then expires at the end of
the licensee's birth month. In practice, this means that the
length of the initial license period can vary significantly
between licensees, depending on when the licensee's birth month
occurs and when the initial license was granted. Thus, the
length of the initial license period can vary from 13 months to
24 months. After the initial license period, the renewed license
period lasts for two full years, because subsequent license
period lasts from the licensee's birth month until the
licensee's birth month two years later.
The Board of Psychology license psychologists and related allied
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health professionals. The Board of Psychology uses a similar
system to determine the length of initial licensure as the
Medical Board.
Proposed Law:
AB 773 would revise the expiration date for certain licenses
issued by the Medical Board of California and the Board of
Psychology, to ensure that the initial licensing period is a
full two years.
Related Legislation:
AB 483 (Patterson) would require specified initial license
fees to be prorated on a monthly basis. That bill is pending
in the Senate Business and Professions Committee.
AB 1758 (Patterson, 2014) would have required specified
initial license fees for various health professionals to be
prorated on a monthly basis. That bill was held on this
committee's Suspense File.
Staff
Comments: Under current law, fees that can be assessed by
licensing boards and bureaus are often set in statute or capped
in statute. The license fees that the Medical Board may impose
on applicants is capped in statute at $790 (with certain
additional surcharges for enforcement activities allowed). The
current fee level is $783 (plus an additional $25 related to
enforcement activities). This bill is projected to result in
revenue losses of about $1.1 million per year to the Medical
Board. Under current law, the Medical Board has very limited
ability to raise the overall license fee to offset the lost fee
revenue that would occur under this bill. Therefore the Medical
Board will need to reduce expenditures for licensure activity or
enforcement activity, if this bill is enacted.
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