Report Title:
Doctors and Dentists; Treatment for the Indigent
Description:
Allows doctors and dentists to practice under a temporary license to treat indigent persons.
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1339 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO treatment of the medically indigent.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Chapter 448, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§448- Safety net dental providers. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board of dental examiners shall adopt rules under chapter 91 to establish a procedure to license dentists to practice as employees or volunteers for safety net dental providers; provided the applicant for special licensure has passed the national dental board examination and has an active license to practice in another state. A special licensure under this section shall permit dentists to practice in Hawaii only within the scope of their employment with safety net dental providers or as volunteers for such organizations.
(b) For purposes of this section, "safety net dental providers" means organizations that:
(1) Are private nonprofit corporations, determined to be charitable organizations under title 26 United States Code section 501(c)(3);
(2) Provide care only to patients with no insurance or who are covered under Medicaid; and
(3) Accommodate individuals with disabilities and those who require language assistance."
SECTION 2. Section 448-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) The board of dental examiners may issue without examination to any resident or nonresident otherwise qualified to be examined a temporary license to practice dentistry in the employment of the State or any county, or any legally incorporated eleemosynary dispensary or infirmary, private school, [or] welfare center[.], or clinic serving the medically indigent as defined in section 325-38(b). The temporary license shall authorize the person to whom the license is issued to practice dentistry exclusively while engaged in that employment and shall be in force until the earliest of the following occurs:
(1) The date the person leaves the employment authorized under the temporary license;
(2) The three hundred ninety-sixth calendar day following the date of issuance of the temporary license; provided that in the case of a temporary license to practice dentistry in a clinic serving the medically indigent, the three hundred sixty-fifth calendar day following the date of issuance of the temporary license;
(3) The date on which the results of the licensure examination taken by the person under this chapter are posted by the board; or
(4) The date on which the board revokes the temporary license;
provided that the board may revoke the temporary license at any time for cause.
No person who has failed an examination shall have the benefit of any temporary license."
SECTION 3. Section 453-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§453-3 Limited and temporary licenses. The board of medical examiners shall issue a limited and temporary license to an applicant who has not been examined as required by section 453-4, and against whom no disciplinary proceedings are pending in any state or territory, if the applicant is otherwise qualified to be examined, and upon determination that:
(1) There is an absence or a shortage of licensed physicians in a particular locality, and that the applicant has been duly licensed as a physician by written examination under the laws of another state or territory of the United States. A limited and temporary license issued hereunder shall permit the practice of medicine and surgery by the applicant only in the particular locality, and no other, as shall be set forth in the license issued to the applicant. The license shall be valid only for a period of eighteen months from the date of issuance. The board shall establish guidelines to determine a locality with an absence or shortage of physicians. For this purpose, the board may consider a locality to have an absence or shortage of physicians if the absence or shortage results from the temporary loss of a physician. In designating a locality with an absence or shortage of physicians, the board shall not delegate its authority to a private organization;
(2) The applicant is to be employed by an agency or department of the state or county government, and that the applicant has been duly licensed as a physician by written examination under the laws of another state or territory of the United States. A limited and temporary license issued hereunder shall only be valid for the practice of medicine and surgery while the applicant is in the employ of such governmental agency or department and in no case shall be used to provide private patient care for a fee. A license issued under this paragraph may be renewed from year to year;
(3) The applicant would practice medicine and surgery only while under the direction of a physician regularly licensed in the State other than as permitted by this section, and that the applicant intends to take the regular licensing examination conducted by the board within the next eighteen months. A limited and temporary license issued under this paragraph shall be valid for no more than eighteen months from the date of issuance, unless otherwise extended at the discretion of the board of medical examiners; provided that this discretionary extension shall not exceed a period of six months beyond the original expiration date of the limited and temporary license;
(4) The applicant has been appointed as a resident or accepted for specialty training in a health care facility or organized ambulatory health care facility as defined in section 323D-2 or a hospital approved by the board, and that the applicant shall be limited in the practice of medicine and surgery to the extent required by the duties of the applicant's position or by the program of training while at the health care facility, organized ambulatory health care facility, or hospital. The license shall be valid during the period in which the applicant remains as a resident in training, and may be renewed from year to year during the period; [or]
(5) A public emergency exists, and that the applicant has been duly licensed as a physician by written examination under the laws of another state or territory of the United States. A limited and temporary license issued hereunder shall only be valid for the period of such public emergency[.]; or
(6) The applicant would practice medicine and surgery only while employed by a clinic serving the medically indigent as defined in section 325-38(b); provided that the temporary license shall be valid until the earlier of:
(A) The date the person leaves the employment authorized under the temporary license;
(B) The date on which the board revokes the temporary license for cause;
(C) The date on which the results of the licensure examination taken by the applicant under this chapter are posted by the board; or
(D) The three hundred sixty-fifth calendar day following the date of issuance of the temporary license.
Nothing herein requires the registration or licensing hereunder of nurses, or other similar persons, acting under the direction and control of a licensed physician."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that on June 30, 2006, sections 1, 2, and 3 of this Act shall be repealed and sections 448-12 and 453-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are reenacted in the form in which they read on the day before approval of this Act.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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