AB408 - Physician Health and Wellness Program.

Amended IN Senate July 08, 2025 Amended IN Assembly April 21, 2025 Amended IN Assembly March 24, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 408 Introduced by Assembly Member Berman February 04, 2025 An act to repeal and add Article 14 (commencing with Section 2340) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 408, as amended, Berman. Physician Health and Wellness Program. Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons and licensed midwives by the Medical Board of California. A violation of the act is a crime. Existing law authorizes the board to establish a Physician and Surgeon Health and Wellness Program to support a physician and surgeon in their rehabilitation from substance abuse to ensure the physician and surgeon remains able to practice medicine in a manner that will not endanger the public health and safety and that will maintain the integrity of the medical profession. Existing law requires the board to contract with a third party for the program’s administration in accordance with specified provisions of the Public Contract Code. Existing law provides that participation in the program shall not be a defense to any disciplinary action that may be taken by the board. Existing law requires the program to comply with the Uniform Standards Regarding Substance-Abusing Healing Arts Licensees adopted by the Substance Abuse Coordination Committee of the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law establishes the Physician and Surgeon Health and Wellness Program Account in the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California for the support of the program. This bill would revise and recast those provisions and would instead authorize the board to establish a Physician Health and Wellness Program to support, treat, monitor, and rehabilitate physicians and surgeons and other professionals licensed by the board with impairing physical and mental health conditions that may impact their ability to practice their profession in a reasonably safe, competent, and professional manner. The bill would require the administering entity to be a nonprofit entity and would require the contract with the administering entity to include procedures on specified topics. The bill would exempt the program from the Uniform Standards Regarding Substance-Abusing Healing Arts Licensees. The bill would exempt program records relating to current or former program participants from disclosure under the California Public Records Act, except as specified. The bill would authorize the board to establish advisory committees to assist in carrying out the duties of the administering entity, and would establish duties and responsibilities authorized to be performed by a committee. The bill would rename the Physician and Surgeon Health and Wellness Program Account as the Physician Health and Wellness Program Account, and would authorize the board to seek and use grant funds and gifts from public or private sources to pay any cost associated with the program. The bill would require the board to annually report to the Legislature and make available to the public the amount and source of funds. The bill would require a licensee to report a license to the administering entity or the board if they believe the licensee is impaired. By expanding the scope of a crime under the Medical Practice Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make a person who reports information or takes action in connection with the bill’s provisions immune from civil liability for reporting information or taking the action, except as specified. The bill would make the program inapplicable to the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Article 14 (commencing with Section 2340) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Article 14 (commencing with Section 2340) is added to Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, to read: Article 14. Physician Health and Wellness Program 2340. (a) The board may establish a Physician Health and Wellness Program for the early identification of, and appropriate interventions to support, treat, monitor, and rehabilitate physicians and surgeons and allied health care professionals licensed by the board, as well as applicants, prospective applicants, trainees, and students with impairing or potentially impairing physical or mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, that may impact their ability to practice their profession in a reasonably safe, competent, and professional manner. (b) For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (1) “Administering entity” means a nonprofit, third-party independent administering entity qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that has expertise in mental health disorders, including substance use disorders and other potentially impairing health conditions, that has been designated pursuant to a request for proposal to perform any of the activities set forth in this article and any applicable regulations pursuant to a contract with the board. (2) “Applicant” means an individual who has applied for licensure with the board. (3) “Board” means the Medical Board of California or its designee. If the board establishes one or more committees pursuant to this article, “board” may also refer to a board committee to the extent duties have been delegated to the committee, or to its designee. (4) “Disruptive behavior” means aberrant behavior exhibited through personal interaction with others, including, but not limited to, health care professionals, facility staff, or patients, clients, or their family members, which interferes with patient or client care or could reasonably be expected to interfere with the process of delivering health care in a reasonably safe, competent, and professional manner. (5) (4) “Impaired,” “impairing,” or “impairment” means the inability to practice medicine or other health care profession regulated by the board in a reasonably safe, competent, and professional manner due to mental illness, physical illness, disruptive behavior, or substance use disorder. (6) (5) “Licensee” means an individual licensed by the board. (7) (6) “Mental illness” means an illness or condition characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior, including disruptive behavior, that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. (8) (7) “Participant” means a licensee, applicant, prospective applicant, trainee, or student who was or is enrolled in the program for evaluation, treatment, or monitoring pursuant to an agreement between that person and the program, including voluntary participants and those referred by the board pursuant to an order of probation. (9) (8) “Physical illness” means an illness or condition that would adversely affect cognitive, motor, or perceptive skills, including, but not limited to, deterioration through the aging process. (10) (9) “Physician Health and Wellness Program” or “program” means the confidential resource operated by the administering entity for licensees, applicants, prospective applicants, trainees, and students suffering from impairing or potentially impairing health conditions. (11) (10) “Prospective applicant” means an individual who has graduated from a school approved by the board and is contemplating applying for licensure with the board. (12) (11) “Student” means an individual enrolled in a school in this state approved by the board studying to enter a profession regulated by the board. For an individual participating in the program, the program shall make any required reports pursuant to this article to the individual’s oversight entity, such as the individual’s school, program, or supervisor as specified in the individual’s participation agreement, instead of to the board, unless otherwise specified in this article. (13) (12) “Substance use disorder” means a disease in which the essential feature is a cluster of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms indicating that the individual continues using the substance despite significant substance-related problems. (14) (13) “Trainee” means an individual who has graduated from a school approved by the board who is in training to enter a profession regulated by the board, and who is currently unlicensed to practice in California, including, but not limited to, those who are practicing during the exemption period under Section 2064.5 or 2065. For an individual participating in the program, the program shall make any required reports pursuant to this article to the individual’s oversight entity, such as the individual’s training program or supervisor, as specified in the individual’s participation agreement, instead of to the board, unless otherwise specified in this article. (15) (14) “Treatment” means a course of inpatient or outpatient care or rehabilitation services provided pursuant to recommendations by the administering entity or its designee authorized to make those recommendations. (16) (15) “Voluntary participant” means a participant who voluntarily enrolled in the program for evaluation, monitoring, or treatment services, including an individual referred by the board in lieu of the board pursuing disciplinary action, action under the conditions provided in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 2344, and is not required by the board to participate in the program pursuant to an order of probation. 2341. (a) A program established pursuant to this article shall do all of the following: (1) Educate the public, licensees, applicants, prospective applicants, trainees, students, health facilities, medical groups, health care service plans, health insurers, and other relevant organizations on the following topics: (A) Early identification and prevention of threats to patient safety due to health care providers who may be impaired. (B) How to refer eligible individuals to the program, including relevant ethical and legal obligations to refer impaired individuals to the program or board. (C) Other information that furthers the purposes of the program. (2) Enter into relationships supportive of the program with professionals experienced in working with health care providers to provide education, evaluation, monitoring, or treatment services. (3) Receive and assess reports of suspected impairment from any source. (4) Intervene in cases of verified impairment or suspected impairment, as well as in cases where the individual has a condition that could lead to impairment if left untreated. (5) Upon reasonable cause, refer participants for evaluation, treatment, monitoring, or other appropriate services. (6) Provide consistent and regular monitoring, care management support, or other appropriate services for program participants. (7) Advocate on behalf of participants, with their consent, to the board to allow them to participate in the program as an alternative to disciplinary action, when appropriate. (8) Offer guidance on participants’ fitness for duty with current or potential workplaces, when appropriate. (9) Perform other services as agreed between the program and the board. (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the board and program shall be exempt from being mandated to impose or follow the requirements of the Uniform Standards Regarding Substance-Abusing Healing Arts Licensees adopted by the Substance Abuse Coordination Committee of the Department of Consumer Affairs pursuant to Section 315 (Uniform Standards), for those who are voluntary participants. (c) A participant who is subject to a board order of probation, including, but not limited to, an order imposing the Uniform Standards, shall comply with the terms of their probation, and the program shall provide the required evaluations, treatment, monitoring, and reports to the board consistent with the participant’s order of probation. A participant who commits a violation of their order of probation shall be subject to the consequences required by the order. 2342. (a) If the board chooses to establish a program, the board shall contract for the program’s administration with a third-party independent administering entity that is a nonprofit entity that qualifies under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, pursuant to a request for proposals. The process for procuring the services for the program shall be administered by the board pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 10335) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code. However, Section 10425 of the Public Contract Code shall not apply to this subdivision. The board may enter into a multiyear contract with the administering entity without having to obtain the approval of the Department of General Services, the Office of Legal Services, or any other state entity to justify a multiyear term. (b) The administering entity shall have expertise and experience in the areas of impairment and rehabilitation in health care providers. The leadership of the administering entity shall have at least one medical director, who is specially trained or board certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry and has expertise in health programs for health care providers. (c) The administering entity shall identify and use a national establish agreements with treatment resource network that includes resources, including in-person and telehealth evaluations, treatment programs, and support groups and shall establish a process for evaluating the effectiveness of those resources and programs. (d) The administering entity shall identify other individuals affiliated with the participant who would benefit from counseling and may refer them to services appropriate for the circumstances. (e) The administering entity shall make the program services available to all board licensees, applicants, prospective applicants, trainees, and [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]