HB266 amends the Physician Assistant Act to remove several statutory requirements tied to physician supervision and collaboration. The bill revises licensing and renewal provisions for physician assistants, including fee language, and changes the scope-of-practice section so that physician assistants may practice independently and make decisions regarding patient care, including prescribing and distributing certain dangerous drugs other than Schedule I controlled substances, subject to board rules. It also updates the board’s rulemaking authority to reflect the new independent-practice framework and repeals a separate section of the act that is no longer needed under the revised structure.
The bill also makes conforming changes to fee provisions for physician assistant licensure and renewal, while preserving the board’s authority to set application, renewal, late, reinstatement, and related administrative fees. In practical terms, it shifts the regulatory model away from mandatory physician supervision/registration toward a more autonomous physician assistant practice model, while leaving the Medical Board with authority to regulate licensure standards, renewal, and prescribing rules through rulemaking.
Impact
HB266 would amend Sections 61-6-19, 61-6C-3, and 61-6C-7 of the New Mexico Statutes Annotated and repeal Section 61-6C-8. The main legal effect is to eliminate statutory requirements that physician assistants renew under a supervision/collaboration registration system and to remove language requiring practice only under a supervising or collaborating physician. It would also authorize physician assistants to practice independently within their scope and to make treatment decisions and prescribe/distribute certain non-controlled dangerous drugs under board rules. The bill leaves intact the board’s licensing and disciplinary framework and its authority to set fees and adopt rules governing physician assistant practice.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and title, the measure appears generally supportive of expanding physician assistant autonomy and modernizing licensure rules. There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided material, so no direct evidence of opposition or support from legislators, stakeholders, or the public is available. The introduced-by listing from both parties suggests the bill may have been framed as a bipartisan professional licensure update.
Contention
The central point of contention is likely the removal of physician supervision and collaboration requirements for physician assistants. Supporters would likely view the bill as expanding access to care, reducing administrative burden, and aligning practice authority with current workforce needs. Opponents, if any, would likely raise concerns about patient safety, oversight, and whether independent practice should be permitted without physician involvement. The bill also changes who must be registered and how prescribing authority is structured, which could affect physicians, physician assistants, the medical board, and patients receiving care.