HB 91-NATUROPATHS: LICENSING; PRACTICE  4:51:33 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 91, "An Act relating to the practice of naturopathy; relating to the licensure of naturopaths; relating to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development; and providing for an effective date." 4:51:57 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX opened public testimony. 4:52:21 PM ABBY LAING, Owner, Thrive Integrative Medicine; Alaska Association of Naturopaths, offered her belief that naturopaths are unable to provide the current scope of practice that they are trained for under current law, adding that it creates unnecessary inefficiencies in the healthcare system. She stated that HB 91 improves healthcare access, removes the need for Alaskans to seek costly and duplicative care, addresses the shortage of primary care providers in the state, and allows each consumer a greater freedom to choose how to best address their healthcare needs by allowing naturopathic doctors to do what they are trained for. She addressed provisions in the bill that allows naturopathic doctors prescriptive privileges of noncontrolled substance medications and allows them to provide minor office procedures. She gave a short description of her educational background, which included a 4-year medical doctorate level program with 140 hours of pharmaceutical training. She noted that prescriptive privileges are currently being provided in Alaska by other healthcare providers with equal or lesser pharmaceutical training. 4:59:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS asked what kind of training it takes to become a naturopathic doctor (ND). MS. LAING stated that regulated states require 4 years of an undergraduate degree with a premedical track and 4 years of a doctorate level program, adding that a residency is optional. 5:00:39 PM SUZETTE MAILLOUX, Secretary, Alaska Association of Naturopathic Physicians, gave a short description of her educational background, adding that it was a tough decision to return to Alaska after completing her training because of the "current licensure." She informed the committee that her practice focuses on women's health and HB 91 would allow her to prescribe birth control and hormone replacement. 5:03:21 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN questioned whether there is a decline in naturopathic doctors in Alaska. MS. MAILLOUX relayed that there are currently 46 licensed naturopathic doctors, while in 2010 there were over 82. She offered her belief that Alaska is losing doctors because of the more limited scope of practice in the state. MS. MAILLOUX, in response to a follow up question from Representative Hannan, said that sometimes it's tempting to move her business to another state where she could practice to the full extent of her training. 5:04:20 PM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS suggested that, even with only 46 practitioners, there still is the potential to make women's health substantially more available and potentially affordable with HB 91. He asked if Ms. Mailloux agreed. MS. MAILLOUX answered yes. She added that many of the naturopathic doctors in Alaska would like to offer their services to lower income populations and having prescriptive rights would better allow them to do that. 5:06:22 PM CO-CHAIR WOOL asked if it was a tough decision between becoming a medical doctor or a naturopathic doctor. MS. MAILLOUX conveyed that, after shadowing five different medical practitioners, it was a clear choice. [HB 91 was held over.]