Senate Approves Durbin Measure to Cut Through Red Tape

SENATE APPROVES DURBIN MEASURE TO CUT THROUGH RED TAPE

The Senate today approved an amendment by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) that will help put back to work medical professionals who fled Louisiana and Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina. The amendment will allow licensed medical professionals from Louisiana or Mississippi and who serve Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and Indian Health Service patients to practice for 90-days in their new state while seeking state licensure. The amendment was added to the State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill.

"Thousands of medical professionals who fled their homes in Louisiana and Mississippi are now settling in Illinois and other parts of the country, but it can take months to obtain a license to practice in their new state. We must get them back to work immediately," Durbin said.

Durbin added, "Facilities around the country, like Comprehensive Therapeutics in Glenview, Illinois, want to hire physical therapists, doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists who have fled Louisiana and Mississippi. This amendment cuts through the red tape and gets these doctors and nurses back seeing patients and healing people in Illinois and across the nation."

To qualify for the 90-day waiver, medical professionals must have a valid license from Louisiana or Mississippi, be in good standing in the state, have applied for a license in their new state and are not barred from practicing in that State. The amendment is time-limited and specific to Hurricane Katrina. The waiver expires in May of 2006 and no person can obtain more than one waiver, or receive a waiver of more than 90-days.

Medical professionals who are unable to produce documentation of their licensure in Louisiana or Mississippi must sign an affidavit attesting to their licensure.

Durbin's measure is endorsed by the Acute Long-term Hospital Association; the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care; the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging; the American Dental Association; the American Health Care Association; the American Nurses Association; the American Physical Therapy Association; Federation of State Medical Boards and the Long-term Care Pharmacy Alliance.

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=245878&&