NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS - H.B. 4776: FLOOR ANALYSIS



House Bill 4776 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor: Representative Steve Vear

House Committee: Senior Health, Security and Retirement

Senate Committee: Health Policy


CONTENT


The bill would amend the Public Health Code to place in Article 15 of the Code (which regulates health care professions) requirements pertaining to the licensure and regulation of nursing home administrators; these provisions would be substantially similar to those currently contained in Article 19 of the Occupational Code and Section 47 of the State License Fee Act, which the bill would repeal.


The bill provides that an individual who held a license issued under Article 19 of the Occupational Code on the effective date of the bill would be licensed as a nursing home administrator until the license expired, and could renew the license pursuant to Article 15.


Currently, Article 19 of the Occupational Code creates a nursing home administrators' board but does not prescribe its membership. The bill would create the Michigan Board of Nursing Home Administrators in the Department of Consumer and Industry Services (DCIS). The new board would consist of six nursing home administrators and three public members. The members of the current board would serve as the initial members of the new board until successors were appointed or their terms expired, whichever occurred first.


The bill provides that rules promulgated by the current board, the DCIS, or the DCIS Director under Article 19 of the Occupational Code, and in effect on the bill's effective date, would continue in effect to the extent that they did not conflict with Article 15, and would have to continue to be enforced. The Director could amend or rescind the rules.


The bill specifies that a person could not represent that he or she was a nursing home administrator, use a title including "nursing home administrator" or an abbreviation of the term or similar words that would indicate that he or she was licensed under Article 15, unless licensed as a nursing home administrator.


Currently, under Article 19 of the Occupational Code, a nursing home administrator licensee is subject to penalties, including license revocation and fines, for directly or indirectly offering to pay, causing to be paid, or inferring that payment be made to a physician, pharmacist, or other person or institution in a health occupation as consideration for referral of a patient to the licensee. This provision is not included in the bill.


MCL 333.16131 et al. - Legislative Analyst: G. Towne


FISCAL IMPACT


The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.


Date Completed: 10-3-01 - Fiscal Analyst: M. TyszkiewiczFloor\hb4776 - Bill Analysis @ http://www.senate.state.mi.us/sfa

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.