STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Enters New Jersey into Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act entering New Jersey into the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and supplementing Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The State of New Jersey enacts and enters into the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact with all other jurisdictions that legally join the compact in the form substantially as follows:
Section 1. Purpose.
In order to strengthen access to health care, and in recognition of the advances in the delivery of health care, the member states of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact have allied in common purpose to develop a comprehensive process that complements the existing licensing and regulatory authority of state medical boards and provides a streamlined process that allows physicians to become licensed in multiple states, thereby enhancing the portability of a medical license and ensuring the safety of patients. The compact creates another pathway for licensure and does not otherwise change a state s existing medical practice act. The compact also adopts the prevailing standard for licensure and affirms that the practice of medicine occurs where the patient is located at the time of the physician-patient encounter, and therefore requires the physician to be under the jurisdiction of the state medical board where the patient is located. State medical boards that participate in the compact retain the jurisdiction to impose an adverse action against a license to practice medicine in that state issued to a physician through the procedures in the compact.
Section 2. Definitions.
As used in this compact:
a. Bylaws means the bylaws established by the Interstate Commission pursuant to section 11 of this compact for its governance, or for directing and controlling its actions and conduct.
b. Commissioner means the voting representative appointed by each member board pursuant to section 11 of this compact.
c. Conviction means a finding by a court that an individual is guilty of a criminal offense through adjudication, or entry of a plea of guilt or no contest to the charge by the offender. Evidence of an entry of a conviction of a criminal offense by the court shall be considered final for purposes of disciplinary action by a member board.
d. Expedited license means a full and unrestricted medical license granted by a member state to an eligible physician through the process set forth in the compact.
e. Interstate Commission means the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission created pursuant to section 11 of this compact.
f. License means authorization by a state for a physician to engage in the practice of medicine, which would be unlawful without the authorization.
g. Medical practice act means laws and regulations governing the practice of allopathic and osteopathic medicine within a member state.
h. Member board means a state agency in a member state that acts in the sovereign interests of the state by protecting the public through licensure, regulation, and education of physicians as directed by the state government.
i. Member state means a state that has enacted the compact.
j. Practice of medicine means the clinical prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease, injury, or condition requiring a physician to obtain and maintain a license in compliance with the medical practice act of a member state.
k. Physician means any person who:
(1) Is a graduate of a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, or a medical school listed in the International Medical Education Directory or its equivalent;
(2) Passed each component of the United States medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA) within three attempts, or any of its predecessor examinations accepted by a state medical board as an equivalent examination for licensure purposes;
(3) Successfully completed graduate medical education approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association;
(4) Holds specialty certification or a time-unlimited specialty certificate recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Osteopathic Association s Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists;
(5) Possesses a full and unrestricted license to engage in the practice of medicine issued by a member board;
(6) Has never been convicted, received adjudication, deferred adjudication, community supervision, or deferred disposition for any offense by a court of appropriate jurisdiction;
(7) Has never held a license authorizing the practice of medicine subjected to discipline by a licensing agency in any state, federal, or foreign jurisdiction, excluding any action related to non-payment of fees related to a license;
(8) Has never had a controlled substance license or permit suspended or revoked by a state or the United States Drug Enforcement Administration; and
(9) Is not under active investigation by a licensing agency or law enforcement authority in any state, federal, or foreign jurisdiction.
l. Offense means a felony, gross misdemeanor, or crime of moral turpitude.
m. Rule means a written statement by the Interstate Commission promulgated pursuant to section 12 of this compact that is of general applicability, implements, interprets, or prescribes a policy or provision of the compact, or an organizational, procedural, or practice requirement of the Interstate Commission, and has the force and effect of statutory law in a member state, and includes the amendment, repeal, or suspension of an existing rule.