Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION
         Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 667
  By Senators Takubo, Trump, Woelfel, and Plymale [Passed March 8, 2024; in effect 90 days from passage]
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  AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article,
         designated §30-3G-1, §30-3G-2, §30-3G-3, §30-3G-4, §30-3G-5, §30-3G-6, §30-3G-7,
         §30-3G-8, §30-3G-9, §30-3G-10, §30-3G-11, §30-3G-12, and §30-3G-13, all relating to
         creating the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact; providing for a purpose; creating
         definitions; providing for state participation in the compact; creating the compact privilege;
         providing for the designation of the state from which licensee is applying for a compact
         privilege; defining adverse actions; providing for the establishment of the Physician
         Assistant Licensure Compact Commission; defining the data system; providing for
         rulemaking; providing for oversight, dispute resolution, and enforcement; providing for the
        date of implementation of the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact Commission;
        providing for construction and severability; and creating the binding effect of the compact.
     Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE          3G.       PHYSICIAN              ASSISTANT         LICENSURE            COMPACT.
     §30-3G-1.                                                                                   Purpose.
         In order to strengthen access to medical services, and in recognition of the advances in the
  delivery of medical services, the participating states of the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact
  have allied in common purpose to develop a comprehensive process that complements the
  existing authority of state licensing boards to license and discipline physician assistants and seeks
  to enhance the portability of a license to practice as a physician assistant while safeguarding the
  safety of patients. This compact allows medical services to be provided by physician assistants,
  via the mutual recognition of the licensee’s qualifying license by other compact participating
  states. This compact also adopts the prevailing standard for physician assistant licensure and
  affirms that the practice and delivery of medical services by the physician assistant occurs where
 the patient is located at the time of the patient encounter, and therefore requires the physician
 assistant to be under the jurisdiction of the state licensing board where the patient is located. State
 licensing boards that participate in this compact retain the jurisdiction to impose adverse action
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 against a compact privilege in that state issued to a physician assistant through the procedures of
 this compact. The Physician Assistant Licensure Compact will alleviate burdens for military
 families by allowing active-duty military personnel and their spouses to obtain a compact privilege
 based on having an unrestricted license in good standing from a participating state.
     §30-3G-2.                                                                              Definitions.
         In this compact:
         (a) "Adverse action" means any administrative, civil, equitable, or criminal action permitted
  by a state’s laws which is imposed by a licensing board or other authority against a physician
  assistant license or license application or compact privilege such as license denial, censure,
  revocation, suspension, probation, monitoring of the licensee, or restriction on the licensee’s
  practice.
         (b) "Compact privilege" means the authorization granted by a remote state to allow a
  licensee from another participating state to practice as a physician assistant to provide medical
  services and other licensed activity to a patient located in the remote state under the remote
 state’s laws and regulations.
        (c) "Conviction" means a finding by a court that an individual is guilty of a felony or
 misdemeanor offense through adjudication or entry of a plea of guilt or no contest to the charge by
 the offender.
        (d) "Criminal background check" means the submission of fingerprints or other biometric-
 based information for a license applicant for the purpose of obtaining that applicant’s criminal
 history record information, as defined in 28 C.F.R. § 20.3(d) (1999), from the state’s criminal
 history record repository as defined in 28 C.F.R. § 20.3(f) (1999).
        (e) "Data system" means the repository of information about licensees, including but not
 limited to license status and adverse actions, which is created and administered under the terms of
 this compact.
        (f) "Executive committee" means a group of directors and ex officio individuals elected or
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 appointed pursuant to §30-3G-7(f)(2) of this code.
        (g) "Impaired practitioner" means a physician assistant whose practice is adversely
 affected by health-related condition(s) that impact their ability to practice.
        (h) "Investigative information" means information, records, or documents received or
 generated by a licensing board pursuant to an investigation.
        (i) "Jurisprudence requirement" means the assessment of an individual’s knowledge of the
 laws and rules governing the practice of a physician assistant in a state.
        (j) "License" means current authorization by a state, other than authorization pursuant to a
 compact privilege, for a physician assistant to provide medical services, which would be unlawful
 without current authorization.
        (k) "Licensee" means an individual who holds a license from a state to provide medical
 services as a physician assistant.
        (l) "Licensing board" means any state entity authorized to license and otherwise regulate
 physician assistants.
        (m) "Medical services" means health care services provided for the diagnosis, prevention,
 treatment, cure or relief of a health condition, injury, or disease, as defined by a state’s laws and
 regulations.
        (n) "Model compact" means the model for the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact on
 file with the Council of State Governments or other entity as designated by the commission.
        (o) "Participating state" means a state that has enacted this compact.
        (p) "PA" means an individual who is licensed as a physician assistant in a state. For
 purposes of this compact, any other title or status adopted by a state to replace the term "physician
 assistant" shall be deemed synonymous with "physician assistant" and shall confer the same
 rights and responsibilities to the licensee under the provisions of this compact at the time of its
 enactment.
        (q) "PA Licensure Compact Commission", "Compact Commission", or "Commission" mean
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 the national administrative body created pursuant to §30-3G-7(a) of this code.
        (r) "Qualifying license" means an unrestricted license issued by a participating state to
 provide medical services as a physician assistant.
        (s) "Remote state" means a participating state where a licensee who is not licensed as a
 physician assistant is exercising or seeking to exercise the compact privilege.
        (t) "Rule" means a regulation promulgated by an entity that has the force and effect of law.
        (u) "Significant Investigative Information" means investigative information that a licensing
 board, after an inquiry or investigation that includes notification and an opportunity for the
 physician assistant to respond if required by state law, has reason to believe is not groundless
 and, if proven true, would indicate more than a minor infraction.
        (v) "State" means any state, commonwealth, district, or territory of the United States.
     §30-3G-3.            State participation in          this compact.
         (a) To participate in this compact, a participating state shall:
         (1) License physician assistants.
         (2) Participate in the compact commission’s data system.
         (3) Have a mechanism in place for receiving and investigating complaints against
  licensees and license applicants.
         (4) Notify the commission, in compliance with the terms of this compact and commission
  rules, of any adverse action against a licensee or license applicant and the existence of significant
  investigative Information regarding a licensee or license applicant.
         (5) Fully implement a criminal background check requirement, within a time frame
 established by commission rule, by its licensing board receiving the results of a criminal
 background check and reporting to the commission whether the license applicant has been
 granted a license.
        (6) Comply with the rules of the compact commission.
        (7) Utilize passage of a recognized national exam such as the NCCPA PANCE as a
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 requirement for physician assistant licensure.
        (8) Grant the compact privilege to a holder of a qualifying license in a participating state.
        (b) Nothing in this compact prohibits a participating state from charging a fee for granting
 the compact privilege.
     §30-3G-4.                                    Compact privilege.
         (a) To exercise the compact privilege, a licensee must:
         (1) Have graduated from a physician assistant program accredited by the Accreditation
  Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. or other programs authorized
  by commission rule.
         (2) Hold current NCCPA certification.
         (3) Have no felony or misdemeanor conviction.
         (4) Have never had a controlled substance license, permit, or registration suspended or
  revoked by a state or by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
         (5) Have a unique identifier as determined by commission rule.
        (6) Hold a qualifying license.
        (7) Have had no revocation of a license or limitation or restriction on any license currently
 held due to an adverse action.
        (8) If a licensee has had a limitation or restriction on a license or compact privilege due to
 an adverse action, two years must have elapsed from the date on which the license or compact
 privilege is no longer limited or restricted due to the adverse action.
        (9) If a compact privilege has been revoked or is limited or restricted in a participating state
 for conduct that would not be a basis for disciplinary action in a participating state in which the
 licensee is practicing or applying to practice under a compact privilege, that participating state
 shall have the discretion not to consider such action as an adverse action requiring the denial or
 removal of a compact privilege in that state.
        (10) Notify the compact commission that the licensee is seeking the compact privilege in a
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 remote state.
        (11) Meet any jurisprudence requirement of a remote state in which the licensee is seeking
 to practice under the compact privilege and pay any fees applicable to satisfying the jurisprudence
 requirement.
        (12) Report to the commission any adverse action taken by a non-participating state within
 30 days after the action is taken.
        (b) The compact privilege is valid until the expiration or revocation of the qualifying license
 unless terminated pursuant to an adverse action. The licensee must also comply with all of the
 requirements of subsection (a) of this section to maintain the compact privilege in a remote state. If
 the participating state takes adverse action against a qualifying license, the licensee shall lose the
 compact privilege in any remote state in which the licensee has a compact privilege until all of the
 following occur:
        (1) The license is no longer limited or restricted; and
        (2) Two years have elapsed from the date on which the license is no longer limited or
 restricted due to the adverse action.
        (c) Once a restricted or limited license satisfies the requirements of subsection (b)(1) and
 (b)(2) of this section, the licensee must meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section to
 obtain a compact privilege in any remote state.
        (d) For each remote state in which a physician assistant seeks authority to prescribe
 controlled substances, the physician assistant shall satisfy all requirements imposed by such state
 in granting or renewing such authority.
     §30-3G-5. Designation of the state from which licensee is applying for a compact privilege.
         Upon a licensee’s application for a compact privilege, the licensee shall identify to the
  commission the participating state from which the licensee is applying, in accordance with
  applicable rules adopted by the commission, and subject to the following requirements:
         (1) When applying for a compact privilege, the licensee shall provide the commission with
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  the address of the licensee’s primary residence and thereafter shall immediately report to the
  commission any change in the address of the licensee’s primary residence.
          (2) When applying for a compact privilege, the licensee is required to consent to accept
  service of process by mail at the licensee’s primary residence on file with the commission with
  respect to any action brought against the licensee by the commission or a participating state,
 including a subpoena, with respect to any action brought or investigation conducted by the
 commission or a participating state.
     §30-3G-6.                                            Adverse actions.
          (a) A participating state in which a licensee is licensed shall have exclusive power to
  impose adverse action against the qualifying license issued by that participating state.
          (b) In addition to the other powers conferred by state law, a remote state shall have the
  authority, in accordance with existing state due process law, to do all of the following:
          (1) Take adverse action against a physician assistant’s compact privilege within that state
  to remove a licensee’s compact privilege or take other action necessary under applicable law to
  protect the health and safety of its citizens.
          (2) Issue subpoenas for both hearings and investigations that require the attendance and
  testimony of witnesses as well as the production of evidence. Subpoenas issued by a licensing
 board in a participating state for the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of
 evidence from another participating state shall be enforced in the latter state by any court of
 competent jurisdiction, according to the practice and procedure of that court applicable to
 subpoenas issued in proceedings pending before it. The issuing authority shall pay any witness
 fees, travel expenses, mileage and other fees required by the service statutes of the state in which
 the witnesses or evidence are located.
         (3) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(2) of this section, subpoenas may not be issued by a
 participating state to gather evidence of conduct in another state that is lawful in that other state for
 the purpose of taking adverse action against a licensee’s compact privilege or application for a
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 compact privilege in that participating state.
         (4) Nothing in this compact authorizes a participating state to impose discipline against a
 physician assistant’s compact privilege or to deny an application for a compact privilege in that
 participating state for the individual’s otherwise lawful practice in another state.
         (c) For purposes of taking adverse action, the participating state which issued the
 qualifying license shall give the same priority and effect to reported conduct received from any
 other participating state as it would if the conduct had occurred within the participating state which
 issued the qualifying license. In so doing, that participating state shall apply its own state laws to
 determine appropriate action.
         (d) A participating state, if otherwise permitted by state law, may recover from the affected
 physician assistant the costs of investigations and disposition of cases resulting from any adverse
 action taken against that physician assistant.
         (e) A participating state may take adverse action based on the factual findings of a remote
 state, provided that the participating state follows its own procedures for taking the adverse action.
         (f) Joint investigations:
         (1) In addition to the authority granted to a participating state by its respective state
 physician assistant laws and regulations or other applicable state law, any participating state may
 participate with other participating states in joint investigations of licensees.
         (2) Participating states shall share any investigative, litigation, or compliance materials in
 furtherance of any joint or individual investigation initiated under this compact.
         (g) If an adverse action is taken against a physician assistant’s qualifying license, the
 physician assistant’s compact privilege in all remote states shall be deactivated until two years
 have elapsed after all restrictions have been removed from the state license. All disciplinary orders
 by the participating state which issued the qualifying licen