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Previously issued FIRs and attachments may
also be obtained from the LFC in
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HB |
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SHORT
TITLE |
Create Naturopathic Health Care Task Force |
SB |
SJM 3 |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY04 |
FY05 |
FY04 |
FY05 |
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NFI |
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LFC Files
Responses
Received From
Department
of Health (DOH)
Regulation
and Licensing Dept. (RLD)–Boards and Commissions
Health
Policy Commission (HPC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate
Joint Memorial 3 directs the New Mexico Health Policy Commission (HPC) to create a task force to study the
potential for licensing Naturopathic Physicians and Naturopaths. The task force would be composed of
representatives from the New Mexico Association of Naturopathic Physicians, the
Physicians of Naturopathic Medicine Association, other Naturopathic Associations
and licensed health care providers and consumers.
A
final report of the task force’s findings would be made to the interim
Legislative Health and Human Services Committee by October 2004.
Significant Issues
The
licensing of naturopathic physicians is critical because current practice does
not allow consumers to know the level and training of practitioners. Education and training of naturopathic providers
currently varies from a correspondence school of unspecified length to a
Bachelor of Science degree with four years of naturopathic medical school.
Thirteen states and
The Medicaid program will work with the task
force to provide information regarding questions concerning the process of
provider enrollment. The Medicaid program currently does not enroll
naturopathic physicians as eligible providers.
In addition, the services rendered by naturopathic physicians are not a
covered benefit of the Medicaid program.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
While
SJM3 does not provide a specific appropriation, the HPC is able to assign staff
and resources from its General Appropriation as needed to fulfill
implementation of the memorial.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Representation
from the Regulation and Licensing Department, the Board of Medical Examiners
and the Board of Pharmacy is not mentioned and would be useful.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Naturopathy is a distinct system of medicine that stresses health
maintenance, disease prevention, patient education and patient responsibility.
Naturopathy views health as more than an absence of disease. Its goal is to
free the body to heal itself by enhancing its own self-healing powers.
Naturopathic medicine has experienced a tremendous resurgence in
the last two decades. This is largely due to increased public awareness of the
role of diet and lifestyle choices in the cause of chronic disease, as well as,
the failure of modern medicine to deal effectively with these disorders.
In
the 2003 Legislature, HB 456 defined naturopathic medicine as “a system of
health care practiced by doctors of naturopathic medicine for the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of human health conditions, injuries and diseases that
uses education, natural medicines, homeopathy and therapies to support and
stimulate a person’s intrinsic self-healing processes, including naturopathic
physician medicine.”
As
proposed in HB 456 under Scope of Practice,
“Doctors of naturopathic medicine may use for preventive and therapeutic
purposes a list of natural medicines and therapies, food, food extracts,
certain medicines of medicine, animal and botanical origin, vitamins, minerals,
natural hormones, enzymes, digestive aids, whole gland thyroid, plant
substances, homeopathic preparations, topical medicines, counseling,
biofeedback, dietary therapy, hygiene and immunizations, certain injections,
naturopathic physical medicine, nutritional and lifestyle counseling, therapeutic
devices and barrier devices for contraception.“
Diagnostic tools include “physical and orifice examinations, diagnostic
imaging, electrocardiograms, ultrasound, phlebotomy, clinical laboratory tests,
examinations and physiological functions tests.” And, finally doctors of
naturopathic medicine could prescribe natural hormones and contraceptive
devices.
The
task force to be created by SJM 3 can be expected to address scope of practice
and licensing issues. Representation
from the Regulation and Licensing Department, the Board of Medical Examiners
and the Board of Pharmacy would be useful and could provide good perspective in
these discussions.
This
memorial, according to RLD will address the issue of whether naturopath’s may
practice and would lead to criteria for licensure and standards of practice
ultimately protecting the public.
According
to the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (www.naturopathic.org),
thirteen states have regulatory licensing laws for naturopathic doctors. In
each of these states, graduation from a four-year, residential naturopathic
medical school and successful completion of a standard postdoctoral board
examination (NPLEX) are licensure requirements. NPLEX includes basic science
and clinical examinations, and is administered by the Northern American Board
of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE). NPLEX and NABNE provide national standards
and examinations for the scientific and clinical practice of naturopathic
medicine.
AMENDMENTS
On
Page 2, line 19, after “other naturopathic associations” add “the Regulation
and Licensing Department, the Board of Medical Examiners, the Board of Pharmacy
and…”
BD/lg