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.