GENETIC COUNSELING: LICENSURE                                                         S.B. 331 (S-1):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 331 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Sponsor:  Senator Judy K. Emmons

Committee:  Health Policy

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Public Health Code to do the following:

-- Require the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, in consultation with the Michigan Board of Medicine, to promulgate rules specifying the minimum standards for the licensure of genetic counselors.

-- Prohibit an individual from engaging in the practice of genetic counseling unless he or she was a licensed genetic counselor, beginning one year after the rules took effect.

-- Prescribe the scope of practice of genetic counseling.

-- Require a temporary licensed genetic counselor to work under the supervision of a qualified supervisor.

-- Establish fees for genetic counselor application processing, licensure, and temporary licensure.

-- Require the Michigan Board of Medicine to include one genetic counselor.

The bill states that it would not require new or additional reimbursement or mandated workers' compensation benefits for services rendered by an individual who was licensed as a genetic counselor.

MCL 333.16338 et al.                                               Legislative Analyst:  Stephen Jackson

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have a likely neutral fiscal impact on the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), and no fiscal impact on local units of government. The Department would be responsible for administration of a program to license genetic counselors, which would result in new ongoing administrative costs, as well as program startup costs such as rule promulgation, staff training, and information technology. To offset these costs, the bill would establish a schedule of fees to be paid by individuals seeking licensure. The proposed fees are fairly consistent with the license fees for other medical professions, and generally the fee revenue for those licensing programs covers LARA's regulatory costs. However, other medical professions have a relatively high number of licensees so fixed costs can be spread over a large number of licensees. In the case of genetic counselors, it is unknown how many individuals would apply, but the bill would establish an application fee of $230 that would be lowered to $75 once LARA recouped its initial costs to implement the program. Therefore, assuming a sufficient number of individuals applied to offset those initial costs, the overall fiscal impact of the bill should be neutral.

Date Completed:  6-6-18                                                       Fiscal Analyst:  Josh Sefton

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.