HB 353: "An Act relating to the licensure of marital and family therapists; relating to medical assistance for marital and family therapists' services; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 353 01 "An Act relating to the licensure of marital and family therapists; relating to medical 02 assistance for marital and family therapists' services; and providing for an effective 03 date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 08.63.100(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) The board shall issue a license to practice marital and family therapy to a 07 person who 08 (1) applies on a form provided by the board; 09 (2) pays the fee established under AS 08.01.065; 10 (3) furnishes evidence satisfactory to the board that the person 11 (A) has not engaged in conduct that is a ground for imposing 12 disciplinary sanctions under AS 08.63.210; 13 (B) holds a master's degree or doctorate in marital and family 14 therapy or allied mental health field from a regionally accredited educational
01 institution approved by the board for which the person completed a course of 02 study that included instruction substantially equivalent to the following: 03 (i) three courses or nine semester or 12 quarter hours of 04 course work in marital and family therapy; 05 (ii) three courses or nine semester or 12 quarter hours of 06 course work in marital and family studies; 07 (iii) three courses or nine semester or 12 quarter hours 08 of course work in human development; 09 (iv) one course or three semester or four quarter hours 10 of course work in professional studies or professional ethics and law; 11 (v) one course or three semester or four quarter hours of 12 course work in research; and 13 (vi) one year of supervised clinical practice in marital 14 and family therapy; 15 (C) after receiving a degree described in (B) of this paragraph, 16 has 17 [(i)] practiced supervised marital and family therapy, 18 including 1,500 hours of [DIRECT] clinical contact with couples, 19 individuals, and families; the 1,500 hours of [AND 20 (ii) BEEN SUPERVISED IN THE] clinical contact 21 must include [FOR] at least [200 HOURS, INCLUDING] 100 hours 22 of individual supervision and 100 hours of group supervision approved 23 by the board; the 100 hours of individual supervision and 100 hours 24 of group supervision may be conducted by one or more 25 supervisors; 26 (D) has received training related to domestic violence; and 27 (E) has passed a written or oral examination administered by 28 the board. 29 * Sec. 2. AS 08.63.120(b) is amended to read: 30 (b) A person who supervises a licensee under this section during 31 (1) individual supervision must
01 (A) [(1)] have practiced marital and family therapy for five 02 years; 03 (B) [(2)] be licensed under this chapter; and 04 (C) [(3)] meet the minimum standards established by the board 05 for approved supervisors; or 06 (2) group supervision must be licensed to practice as a 07 (A) professional counselor under AS 08.29; 08 (B) marital and family therapist under AS 08.63; 09 (C) physician under AS 08.64 who is licensed by the State 10 Medical Board as a psychiatrist; 11 (D) advanced practice registered nurse under AS 08.68 who 12 is authorized by the Board of Nursing to practice as an adult or family 13 psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner; 14 (E) psychologist under AS 08.86; or 15 (F) clinical social worker under AS 08.95. 16 * Sec. 3. AS 47.07.030(b) is amended to read: 17 (b) In addition to the mandatory services specified in (a) of this section and the 18 services provided under (d) of this section, the department may offer only the 19 following optional services: case management services for traumatic or acquired brain 20 injury; case management and nutrition services for pregnant women; personal care 21 services in a recipient's home; emergency hospital services; long-term care 22 noninstitutional services; medical supplies and equipment; advanced practice 23 registered nurse services; clinic services; rehabilitative services for children eligible 24 for services under AS 47.07.063, substance abusers, and emotionally disturbed or 25 chronically mentally ill adults; targeted case management services; inpatient 26 psychiatric facility services for individuals 65 years of age or older and individuals 27 under 21 years of age; psychologists' services; clinical social workers' services; 28 marital and family therapists' services; midwife services; prescribed drugs; physical 29 therapy; occupational therapy; chiropractic services; low-dose mammography 30 screening, as defined in AS 21.42.375(e); hospice care; treatment of speech, hearing, 31 and language disorders; adult dental services; prosthetic devices and eyeglasses;
01 optometrists' services; intermediate care facility services, including intermediate care 02 facility services for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities; skilled 03 nursing facility services for individuals under 21 years of age; and reasonable 04 transportation to and from the point of medical care. 05 * Sec. 4. AS 47.07.030(g) is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 06 (4) "direct supervision" means that one or more psychiatrists are on the 07 premises of a mental health physician clinic to provide services relating to mental 08 health at least 30 percent of the time that the clinic is open to provide those services; 09 (5) "mental health physician clinic" means a clinic that 10 (A) is operated by one or more psychiatrists; and 11 (B) primarily provides clinic services relating to mental health; 12 (6) "psychiatrist" means a person licensed to practice as a physician 13 under AS 08.64 who is licensed by the State Medical Board as a psychiatrist. 14 * Sec. 5. AS 47.07.030 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 15 (h) The department may reimburse a mental health physician clinic for clinic 16 services under (b) of this section if the services are provided by 17 (1) a psychiatrist; or 18 (2) an individual who 19 (A) works under the direct supervision of a psychiatrist; and 20 (B) is licensed to practice as 21 (i) a professional counselor under AS 08.29; 22 (ii) a marital and family therapist under AS 08.63; 23 (iii) a physician assistant under AS 08.64; 24 (iv) an advanced nurse practitioner under AS 08.68 who 25 is authorized by the Board of Nursing to practice as an adult or family 26 psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner; 27 (v) a psychologist under AS 08.86; 28 (vi) a psychological associate under AS 08.86; or 29 (vii) a clinical social worker under AS 08.95. 30 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 31 read:
01 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Health and Social Services and 02 the Board of Marital and Family Therapy may adopt regulations necessary to implement the 03 changes made by this Act. The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative 04 Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the law implemented by the regulation. 05 * Sec. 7. Section 6 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 06 * Sec. 8. Except as provided in sec. 7 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2019.