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Committee reviews amendment to merge Maine medical license boards; members approve proposed timing and staggered appointments
Summary
The committee reviewed LD 22‑33 to merge the Board of Licensure in Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Licensure into a single Maine Board of Medicine, discussed delaying the Government Evaluation Act review to 2029, staggered initial appointments, and incorporated physician associate changes; members generally supported the draft and asked staff to correct cross references.
Committee staff presented LD 22‑33 (amendment language) to merge the existing allopathic and osteopathic licensure boards into a single Maine Board of Medicine. The draft incorporates prior statutory changes affecting physician associates (LD 2088), removes practice‑agreement language, replaces it with collaborative agreement language, and adds transition provisions allowing the merged board to meet in January 2027 to elect officers for the interim period.
Staff proposed moving the Government Evaluation Act review for the merged board from 2027 to 2029 to allow the new board time to organize; Representative Anne Marie Mastracchio said she supported 2029, arguing it provides enough time while keeping institutional memory. The draft also proposed staggering terms for initial appointments across the 22 members (allopathic and osteopathic physicians, physician associates, and public members) so that some are appointed for 3, 4, and 5‑year terms to establish rotation.
Members asked staff to incorporate previously agreed annual reporting changes and historical reporting information; staff agreed to fold those items into the next iteration and fix technical cross references to the new chapter numbering. No formal vote on final language was recorded at the work session; staff said the merged‑board language would appear again after fiscal review and correction of cross references.
What’s next: Staff will incorporate the annual‑reporting changes, correct statutory cross references to the new chapter (proposed new chapter 153), and circulate updated language with the completed fiscal review.
