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SB348 INTRODUCED
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SB348
5VIAJMM-1
By Senator Kelley
RFD: Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development
First Read: 10-Mar-26
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5VIAJMM-1 03/10/2026 ZAK (L)ZAK 2026-1211
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First Read: 10-Mar-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, a person and facility must
be licensed by the Alabama State Board of Prosthetists
and Orthotists to provide prosthetic, orthotic, or
pedorthic care in the state .
This bill would abolish the board and the
requirement to be licensed by the board to provide
prosthetic, orthotic, or pedorthic care .
This bill would require all individuals and
facilities providing prosthetic, orthotic, or pedorthic
care to be certified by a national certifying entity
approved by the Alabama Department of Workforce .
This bill would require certified persons to
submit proof of certification to the department to be
recorded by the department.
This bill would authorize the department to levy
an annual recording fee on certified persons to be
deposited into the State Treasury.
This bill would provide criminal penalties for
violations.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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SB348 INTRODUCED
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AN ACT
Relating to prosthetists, orthotists, and pedorthists;
to require certification by a national certifying entity to
provide prosthetic, orthotic, or pedorthic care; to require
certified persons to submit proof of certification to the
department to be recorded by the department; to authorize the
department to levy a recording fee on certified persons for
deposit into the State Treasury; to provide criminal penalties
for violations; and to repeal Chapter 25A of Title 34, Code of
Alabama 1975, establishing the Alabama State Board of
Prosthetists and Orthotists.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) For purposes of this section, the
following terms have the following meanings:
(1) DEPARTMENT. The Alabama Department of Workforce.
(2) FACILITY. A facility where prosthetic, orthotic, or
pedorthic care is provided.
(3) NATIONAL CERTIFYING ENTITY. Any national
credentialing organization for ensuring the safe and effective
provision of orthotic, prosthetic, or pedorthic services that
is approved by the department, including the American Board
for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics and
the Board of Certification/Accreditation.
(4) ORTHOSIS. A custom-fabricated, definitive brace or
support that is designed for long-term use. Except for the
treatment of scoliosis, the term does not include
prefabricated or direct-formed orthotic devices or
commercially available knee orthoses used following injury or
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SB348 INTRODUCED
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commercially available knee orthoses used following injury or
surgery, upper extremity adaptive equipment, finger splints,
leather wrist gauntlets, face masks used following burns,
wheelchair seating that is an integral part of the wheelchair
and not worn by the patient independent of the wheelchair,
fabric or elastic supports, corsets, arch supports also known
as non-custom or prefabricated orthotics, low-temperature
formed plastic splints, trusses, elastic hose, canes,
crutches, cervical collars, dental appliances, and other
similar devices such as those commonly carried in stock by a
pharmacy, hospital, rehabilitation facility, department store,
corset shop, or surgical supply facility.
(5) ORTHOTICS. The science and practice of evaluating,
measuring, designing, fabricating, assembling, fitting,
adjusting, or servicing, as well as providing the initial
training necessary to accomplish the fitting of, an orthosis
for the support, correction, or alleviation of neuromuscular
or musculoskeletal dysfunction, disease, injury, or deformity.
The term includes all of the following:
a. Evaluations, consultation, and continuing care, with
basic observational gait and posture analysis.
b. Assessing the need for and measuring, designing,
manufacturing, and fitting orthoses to maximize function and
provide the support and alignment necessary to prevent or
correct deformity or to improve the safety and efficiency of
mobility or locomotion, or both.
c. Periodic evaluation and consultation to assess the
effect of an orthosis on the patient's tissue and assure
proper fit and function of the orthosis.
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proper fit and function of the orthosis.
(6) ORTHOTIST. An individual certified by a national
certifying entity to practice orthotics .
(7) PEDORTHIC DEVICE. Custom therapeutic shoes that:
a. Address a medical condition of the foot below the
ankle;
b. Are prescribed by an authorized health care
practitioner, including diabetic shoes, for the treatment of
partial or complete amputation of the foot, foot ulceration,
pre-ulcerative callous, or foot deformity; shoe modifications
made for therapeutic purposes; partial foot prostheses; and
foot orthoses and orthoses for use from the knee and below;
and
c. Are used for the treatment or alleviation, or both,
of a condition that has its origin in the foot.
(8) PEDORTHICS. The design, manufacture, modification,
or fit of custom shoes, orthoses, and pedorthic devices to
prevent or alleviate foot problems caused by disease,
congenital defect, overuse, or injury.
(9) PEDORTHIST. An individual certified by a national
certifying entity to practice pedorthics.
(10) PROSTHESIS. A definitive artificial limb that is
alignable or articulated or, in lower extremity applications,
capable of bearing weight. The term includes an artificial
medical device that is not surgically implanted and that is
used to replace a missing limb, appendage, or other external
human body part and that includes an artificial limb, hand, or
foot. The term does not include artificial eyes, ears, dental
appliances, ostomy products, devices such as artificial
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appliances, ostomy products, devices such as artificial
breasts or eyelashes, wigs, or other devices that do not have
a significant impact on the musculoskeletal functions of the
body.
(11) PROSTHETICS. The science and practice of
evaluating, measuring, designing, fabricating, assembling,
fitting, aligning, adjusting, or servicing, as well as
providing the initial education necessary to accomplish the
wearing and use of a prosthesis, through the replacement of
external parts of a human body lost due to amputation,
congenital deformities, or absences. The term includes all of
the following:
a. The generation of an image, form, or mold that
replicates the patient's body or body segment and that
requires rectification of dimensions, contours, and volumes
for use in the design and fabrication of a socket to accept a
residual limb to create an artificial appendage that is
designed either to support body weight or to improve or
restore function or cosmesis.
b. Observational gait analysis and clinical assessment
of the requirements necessary to refine and mechanically fix
the relative position of various parts of the prosthesis to
maximize the function, stability, and safety of the patient.
c. Evaluating, consulting, and providing continuing
patient care in order to assess the effect of the prosthetic
device on the patient's tissues and to assure proper fit and
function of the prosthetic device.
(12) PROSTHETIST. An individual who is certified by a
national certifying entity to practice prosthetics.
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national certifying entity to practice prosthetics.
(b) Beginning October 1, 2026, a prosthetist,
orthotist, pedorthist, fitter, assistant, or facility may not
provide prosthetic, orthotic, or pedorthic care, or otherwise
practice or operate, without a current and valid certification
from a national certifying entity.
(c)(1) All persons required to be certified pursuant to
subsection (b) shall annually submit proof of valid
certification to the department. The department shall keep a
record of all certified persons and verify and record all
certified individual's completed continuing education required
by the national certifying entity.
(2) The department may assess an annual recording fee
on certified persons not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100).
(3) All funds collected by the department pursuant to
this section shall be deposited into the State Treasury to the
credit of the department to be used to administer this
section.
(d)(1) A violation of subsection (b) is a Class C
misdemeanor.
(2) The Attorney General may bring an action in circuit
court to enjoin a violation of this section.
Section 2. Chapter 25A of Title 34, Code of Alabama
1975, establishing the Alabama State Board of Prosthetists and
Orthotists, is repealed.
Section 3. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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