By: Zerwas H.B. No. 2525
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the licensing and regulation of physician assistants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 204.153(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) To be eligible for a license under this chapter, an
applicant must:
(1) successfully complete an educational program for
physician assistants, anesthesiologist assistants, or surgeon
assistants accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on
Education for the Physician Assistant or the Commission on
Accreditation of [Committee on] Allied Health Education Programs
[and Accreditation] or by those commissions' [that committee's]
predecessor or successor entities;
(2) pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying
Exam [Examination] administered by the National Commission on
Certification of Physician Assistants or the Certifying
Examination for Anesthesiologist Assistants administered by the
National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist
Assistants;
(3) hold a certificate issued by the National
Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants or the National
Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants;
(4) be of good moral character;
(5) meet any other requirement established by
physician assistant board rule; and
(6) pass a jurisprudence examination approved by the
physician assistant board as provided by Subsection (a-1).
SECTION 2. Section 204.154, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 204.154. EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING REQUIREMENT FOR
CERTAIN PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS. A person is not required to hold a
license issued under this chapter to practice as:
(1) a physician assistant student enrolled in a
physician assistant, anesthesiologist assistant, or surgeon
assistant educational program accredited by the Accreditation
Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant or the
Commission on Accreditation of [Committee on] Allied Health
Education Programs [and Accreditation of the American Medical
Association] or by successor entities as approved and designated by
physician assistant board rule; or
(2) a physician assistant employed in the service of
the federal government while performing duties related to that
employment.
SECTION 3. Section 204.155(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The physician assistant board may issue a temporary
license to an applicant who:
(1) meets all the qualifications for a license under
this chapter but is waiting for the license to be issued at the next
scheduled meeting of the board;
(2) seeks to temporarily substitute for a licensed
physician assistant during the license holder's absence, if the
applicant:
(A) is licensed or registered in good standing in
another state;
(B) submits an application on a form prescribed
by the board; and
(C) pays the appropriate fee prescribed by the
board; or
(3) has graduated from an educational program for
physician assistants, anesthesiologist assistants, or surgeon
assistants described by Section 204.153(a)(1) not later than six
months before applying for a temporary license and is waiting for
examination results from the National Commission on Certification
of Physician Assistants or the National Commission for
Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants.
SECTION 4. Section 204.204, Occupations Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an anesthesiologist
assistant must be supervised by a physician who is an
anethesiologist and maintains a physical proximity that enables the
supervising physician anesthesiologist to be immediately available
if needed.
SECTION 5. (a) Sections 204.153 and 204.155, Occupations
Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to an application for a
license submitted to the Texas Physician Assistant Board on or
after the effective date of this Act. An application submitted
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the application was submitted, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act, the Texas Physician Assistant Board or Texas Medical Board, as
appropriate, shall adopt rules necessary to implement the changes
in law made by this Act to Chapter 204, Occupations Code.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.