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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Papen

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/09/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Traditional Naturopathic Practice Act

SB 513

ANALYST Hanika Ortiz

REVENUE (dollars in thousands)

Estimated Revenue

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

FY09

$.1 see narrative

recurring

Traditional

Naturopathic

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$.1

see narrative

recurring General

fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 513 enacts the Traditional Naturopathic Practice Act, a new statute to provide a scope

of practice for licensing practicing naturopaths in New Mexico; creates the Traditional

Naturopathic Board which examines and licenses traditional naturopaths; and, creates the

Traditional Naturopathic Fund to collect fees and meet the expenses incurred in carrying out the

provisions of the Traditional Naturopathic Practice Act.

Sections 1 and 2 site the title of the Act; and, the purpose of providing laws and rules to govern

Senate Bill 513 – Page

2

the practice of traditional naturopathy for the protection of the public.

Section 3 provides definitions to include “traditional Naturopathic Physical Medicine" as a

system of health care practiced by doctors of naturopathic medicine with the use of physical

agents of air, water, heat, cold, sound, light, electromagnetism, electricity, soft tissue therapy,

joint mobilization and therapeutic exercise in the resolution of human ailments and conditions.

Section 4 expands on scope of practice and provides that doctors of naturopathic medicine may

use for preventive and therapeutic purposes food; food extracts; medicines of mineral, animal

and botanical origin; and includes food, food extracts, certain medicine of mineral, animal and

botanical origins, vitamins; minerals; enzymes; digestive aids; whole gland thyroid; plant

homeopathic preparations; topical natural medicines; counseling; biofeedback; dietary therapy;

hygiene; traditional naturopathic physical medicine; nutritional and lifestyle counseling;

traditional naturopathic physical examinations; and electro-optical mechanical devices and

microscopy.

Section 5 expressly provides that only Board approved traditional naturopathy schools may

operate; and only individuals licensed by the board may practice.

Section 6 allows use of the title “traditional naturopath" or the designation “TN" or “ND"

Naturopathic Diplomat.

Section 7 provides exclusions to the scope of practice.

Sections 8 and 9 create a 5 member board of 3 doctors of naturopathic medicine and 2 public

members; and, states the boards powers and regulatory duties to include examination

requirements, education and experience requirements, and a code of ethics.

Sections 10 through 14 provide for licensure requirements, “grandfathering", examinations,

temporary licensure, licensure by endorsement.

Sections 15 and 16 require the board to establish procedures for approval of traditional

naturopathic schools; and, program approval for providing continuing education credit.

Sections 17 and 18 provide license renewal requirements including a fee structure for deposit to

the Traditional Naturopathic Fund.

Sections 19 through 24 provide for application of the Uniform Licensing Act and Criminal

Offender Employment Act; creates the “Traditional Naturopathic Fund"; and, establishes

penalties.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill does not include an appropriation for start-up costs although the bill does create a fund

and provides that the state treasurer shall invest the fund as other state funds are invested.

Income from the investment of the fund shall be credited to the fund. All balances in the fund

shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the general fund. RLD anticipates that a

naturopathy fund is unlikely to cover the cost of establishing and operating the regulatory board.

This bill creates a new fund and provides for continuing appropriations. The LFC has concerns

Senate Bill 513 – Page

3

with including continuing appropriation language in the statutory provisions for newly created

funds, as earmarking reduces the ability of the legislature to establish spending priorities.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The stated purpose of SB513 is to protect the public from the unprofessional, improper,

incompetent and unlawful practice of traditional naturopathy by providing laws and rules to

govern the practice of traditional naturopathy.

NCCAM is the Federal Governmental lead agency for scientific research on Complementary and

Alternative Medicine. NCCAM is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

According to NCCAM, there are six principles that form the basis of naturopathic practice in

North America: the healing powers of nature, identification and treatment of the cause of disease,

the concept of “first do no harm", the doctor as teacher, treatment of the whole person, and

prevention. The core modalities supporting these principles include diet modification and

nutritional supplements, herbal medicine, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, hydrotherapy,

massage and joint manipulation, and lifestyle counseling. A limited number of studies on

botanicals in the context of use as naturopathic treatments have been published.

HED claims there are three issues to the public that need to be addressed in regulating the

practice of healthcare service through naturopathy: 1. public safety, 2. opportunity for public

access, 3. the ability of the public to distinguish between naturopaths and naturopathic

physicians. Naturopathic physicians undergo a formal medical program of 4 years of study in

schools that have obtained accreditation from accrediting agencies recognized by the United

States Department of Education. Naturopaths or Traditional Naturopath training ranges from

self-instruction and apprenticeship to a formal course of study.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The bill proposes to license “traditional naturopaths’" and designate them as an “ND" using the

term as “Naturopathic Diplomat." “ND" traditionally is recognized as a term usually reserved for

a “naturopathic physician" indicating those practitioners who have gone through an accredited

program that offers Naturopathic Doctor (ND) degrees. It is reasonable for a patient to infer that

a person providing health care services as an ND would have been trained under a more rigorous

and formal curriculum of study. Currently NDs are licensed in 14 states. NDs complete a four

year, residential professional program comprised of more than 4000 hours in instruction, 2100 of

which are supervised patient interactive clinic hours.

The bill approves educational programs in traditional naturopathic training that are accredited by

a state, national or international naturopathic associations, “or recognized by the Commission on

Higher Education." HED only recognizes accreditation by agencies recognized by the United

States Department of Education.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The bill conveys the responsibility of creating an examination for licensure to the Traditional

Naturopathic Board, a new licensing board, which will be overseen by RLD.

Senate Bill 513 – Page

4

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Page 3, paragraph H will license naturopaths to perform for diagnostic purposes; physical and

orificial (mouth) examinations, phlebotomy, diagnostic imaging, electrocardiograms, ultrasound,

clinical laboratory and other physiological function tests; and, may prescribe and dispense

natural hormones and non-drug contraception.

ALTERNATIVES

HED recommends establishing a formal process to examine the criteria and requirements for

licensing naturopathic practitioners before establishing the examining board.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Traditional naturopathic practitioners will continue to practice unregulated.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

How many traditional naturopathic practitioners are in practice in New Mexico.

AHO/mt