RETROACTIVE EMS LICENSE RENEWAL S.B. 1057:
SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 1057 (as introduced 5-26-22) (Senate-passed version)
Sponsor: Senator Curtis S. VanderWall
Committee: Health Policy and Human Services
CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 209 (Emergency Medical Services) of the Public Health Code to do the following:
-- Allow the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to renew an emergency medical services (EMS) personnel license retroactively upon application if the license had expired after March 9, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, the applicant met the requirements of Part 209, and LARA verified that any continuing education requirements in effect at the time of application had been fulfilled.
-- Specify that if LARA renewed an individual's license retroactively that individual would be considered licensed from the date it expired.
-- Require an individual seeking to renew his or her license retroactively to submit an application to LARA by December 31, 2022.
-- Modify certain relicensure provisions.
Retroactive Renewal
Part 209 prohibits an individual from practicing or advertising to practice as a medical first responder, emergency medical technician, emergency medical technician specialist, paramedic, or emergency medical services instructor-coordinator unless licensed by LARA.
Under the bill, this prohibition would apply except as follows. If an EMS personnel license expired after March 9, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, on proper application to LARA and payment of a renewal fee, the Department could renew retroactively, to the date the license expired, the license if the applicant met the requirements of Part 209 and provided, on the Department's request, verification that any continuing education requirements in effect at the time of application had been fulfilled. If LARA renewed an individual's license retroactively, that individual would be considered licensed from the date the license expired. An individual seeking to renew his or her license retroactively would have to submit an application to LARA by December 31, 2022.
License Voidance
Part 209 specifies that a licensee must renew a license or registration before the expiration date as prescribed by rule.
If a license is not renewed within 60 days of the expiration date, it is void and the licensee may not practice or use the title. Under the bill, this provision would apply except for a license renewed retroactively under the bill.
Relicensure
Under Part 209, an individual may be relicensed more than three years after the expiration date upon application as a new applicant, meeting all licensure requirements in effect at the time of application, taking or retaking and passing any examinations required for initial licensure, and payment of fees required of new applicants.
Instead, under the bill, an individual could be relicensed as follows:
-- On application, payment of the application processing, renewal, and late renewal fees, and fulfillment of any continuing education requirement in effect at the time of the application for relicensure.
-- On application within three years after the EMS personnel license expired, payment of the application processing, renewal and late renewal fees, and sponsorship and competency assessment verification from a life support agency; an individual would be eligible to be relicensed one time under this provision.
License Denial, Revocation, or Suspension
Part 209 allows LARA to deny, revoke, or suspend an EMS personnel license under certain prescribed circumstances.
These circumstances include a finding that the applicant or licensee has practiced after his or her license has expired or been suspended. Under the bill, this provision would apply except for a license renewed retroactively under the bill.
MCL 333.20950 et al. Legislative Analyst: Stephen P. Jackson
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill could result in a negligible loss in late fee revenue for LARA. Emergency medical services personnel whose licenses expired after March 9, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, would be allowed to renew their licenses retroactively to the date the license expired after payment of the renewal fee. Under normal circumstances, it is likely that some of those renewals would have been late and would have incurred a late fee. The bill does not state that a late fee would be assessed as the license would be renewed retroactively; accordingly, LARA could lose some late fee revenue. The amount of revenue loss is indeterminate, as there is no way to predict how many of those renewals would have been late without the exception proposed under the bill.
Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco, Jr.
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.