SB 667

This bill provides for licensure and regulation of behavior analysts. Under the

bill, no person may engage in the practice of behavior analysis unless the person has

been granted a license by the Department of Regulation and Licensing (department).

The bill defines the practice of behavior analysis as the design, implementation, and

evaluation of systematic instructional and environmental modifications to produce

socially significant improvements in human behavior, including the empirical

identification of functional relations between behavior and environmental factors,

including interventions based on scientific research and the direct observation and

measurement of behavior and environment. The practice of behavior analysis does

not include psychological testing, neuropsychology, psychotherapy, cognitive

therapy, sex therapy, marriage counseling, psychoanalysis, hypnotherapy, and

long-term counseling as treatment modalities. The bill provides that the licensure

requirement may not be applied to restrict the practice of behavior analysis within

the scope of practice of a licensed professional who is not a behavior analyst, if the

professional does not represent that he or she is a behavior analyst. An unlicensed

person who practices behavior analysis is subject to a fine up to $250, up to three

months in jail, or both.

The department must grant a license to an applicant who submits an

application, an initial credential, and evidence that the applicant is certified as a

behavior analyst by the private organization Behavior Analyst Certification Board,

Inc. (board), except that the department may not grant a license to an applicant who

has been convicted of certain crimes specified in the bill. The bill authorizes the

department to promulgate rules regarding the practice of behavior analysis,

including rules authorizing the issuance of temporary permits to practice behavior

analysis, but any rules must be consistent with standards established by the board.

The department may not promulgate rules that impose additional educational

requirements; that require a behavior analyst to practice under supervision by, or in

collaboration with, another health care provider; that require a behavior analyst to

enter into an agreement with another health care provider; or that limit the location

where a behavior analyst may practice.

The bill requires a behavior analyst to provide to a client a summary of the

behavior analyst's experience and training and a copy of any rules promulgated by

the department. The bill also authorizes the department to discipline a behavior

analyst who engages in unprofessional conduct or who commits any other infraction

identified in the bill.

Under current law, health insurance policies and self-insured governmental

and school district health plans are required to cover a specified amount of

intensive-level services and nonintensive-level services provided to an insured for

the treatment of autism, Asperger's syndrome, and pervasive developmental

disorder not otherwise specified as long as the treatment is prescribed by a physician