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HB0347a -1- HB 347
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HOUSE BILL NO. 347
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE
Introduced: 2/23/26
Referred: Labor and Commerce, Health and Social Services
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants; relating 1
to the practice of physical therapy; and relating to the practice of occupational 2
therapy." 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
* Section 1. AS 08.84 is amended by adding a new section to read: 5
Sec. 08.84.095. Scope of practice for occupational therapists and 6
occupational therapy assistants. (a) An occupational therapist may provide 7
occupational therapy to a person whose ability or opportunity to participate in 8
activities of daily living, play, leisure, or an occupation is or may be limited or 9
restricted because the person has or is at risk of having an injury, disorder, 10
impairment, or disability that limits or restricts the person's ability to engage in an 11
occupation or other goal-oriented task or activity. The therapist may evaluate, analyze, 12
and diagnose the cause of the limitation or restriction and intervene with occupational 13
therapy to decrease or eliminate the cause, help the person recover from or adjust to 14
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HB 347 -2- HB0347a
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the limitation or restriction, and restore the person's ability to engage in an occupation 1
or other goal-oriented task or activity. 2
(b) An occupational therapist may initiate and provide occupational therapy, 3
including therapy under (c) of this section, without a referral from another provider of 4
health care services. 5
(c) The services an occupational therapist may provide to a person include 6
(1) treating a person's pain; 7
(2) habilitating, rehabilitating, and working with a person to adjust 8
physical, neuromusculoskeletal, cognitive, psychosocial, sensory-perceptive, visual, or 9
other aspects of performance in a variety of contexts to improve or maintain the 10
person's ability to engage in an occupation or other goal-oriented task or activity, 11
regardless of the person's ability-related needs; 12
(3) evaluating and treating a person to promote, enhance, or restore the 13
person's ability to safely perform activities of daily living and instrumental activities 14
of daily living and safely engage in sleep, rest, education, work, play, leisure, health 15
management, and social participation; 16
(4) administering, evaluating, and interpreting tests and measurements 17
of a person's bodily functions and structures; 18
(5) establishing, remediating, preventing, or compensating for a barrier 19
to a person's performance skills; in this paragraph, a barrier to a person's performance 20
skills may include the person's bodily structures and functions, habits, routines, roles, 21
environmental and personal factors, and physical, neuromusculoskeletal, cognitive, 22
psychosocial, sensory perception, communication, interaction, and pain management 23
skills; 24
(6) managing a person's ability to eat, feed themselves, or swallow to 25
improve or maintain eating and feeding performance; 26
(7) designing, fabricating, applying, or fitting assistive technology or 27
an adaptive or orthotic device; 28
(8) training a person to 29
(A) use assistive technology or an adaptive, orthotic, or 30
prosthetic device; and 31
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HB0347a -3- HB 347
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(B) manage the person's seating and positioning; 1
(9) adapting environments and assessing, recommending, and training 2
a person on the techniques the person may use to enhance the person's functional and 3
community mobility; 4
(10) preventing pain and dysfunction, restoring function, or reversing 5
or arresting the progression of a pathology; 6
(11) applying an adjunctive intervention or therapeutic procedure to 7
prepare for or use with occupation-based activities; in this paragraph, "adjunctive 8
intervention or therapeutic procedure" includes a thermal, mechanical, electrophysical, 9
or instrument-assisted treatment modality, wound care, and manual therapy; and 10
(12) promoting a person's good physical and mental health and 11
wellness, regardless of the person's ability-related needs. 12
(d) An occupational therapist may allow an occupational therapy assistant to 13
assist with or administer occupational therapy that the occupational therapy assistant is 14
professionally competent to assist with or administer, including assessing a patient in 15
an evaluation delegated to the occupational therapist assistant and preparing reports on 16
the assessment for the occupational therapist. The occupational therapist shall 17
supervise the occupational therapist assistant when acting under this subsection. 18
(e) In this section, "health" means a person's physical or mental health. 19
* Sec. 2. AS 08.84.190(3) is amended to read: 20
(3) "occupational therapy" means [, FOR COMPENSATION,] the use 21
of purposeful activity, evaluation, treatment, and consultation with persons [HUMAN 22
BEINGS] whose ability to cope with the tasks of daily living are threatened with [,] or 23
impaired by developmental deficits, learning disabilities, aging, poverty, cultural 24
differences, physical injury or illness, or psychological and social disabilities to 25
maximize independence, prevent disability, and maintain health; ["OCCUPATIONAL 26
THERAPY" INCLUDES 27
(A) DEVELOPING DAILY LIVING, PLAY, LEISURE, 28
SOCIAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL SKILLS; 29
(B) FACILITATING PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR AND 30
SENSORY INTERGRATIVE FUNCTIONING; 31
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(C) ENHANCING FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE, 1
PREVOCATIONAL SKILLS, AND WORK CAPABILITIES USING 2
SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED EXERCISES, THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITIES 3
AND MEASURES, MANUAL INTERVENTION, AND APPLIANCES; 4
(D) DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND APPLICATION OF 5
SPLINTS OR SELECTIVE ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT; 6
(E) ADMINISTERING AND INTERPRETING 7
STANDARDIZED AND NONSTANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS, 8
INCLUDING SENSORY, MANUAL MUSCLE, AND RANGE OF MOTION 9
ASSESSMENTS, NECESSARY FOR PLANNING EFFECTIVE 10
TREATMENT; AND 11
(F) ADAPTING ENVIRONMENTS FOR THE DISABLED;] 12
* Sec. 3. AS 08.84.190(4) is amended to read: 13
(4) "occupational therapy assistant" means a person who, [ASSISTS 14
IN THE PRACTICE OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY] under the supervision of a 15
licensed [AN] occupational therapist, administers or assists with administering 16
occupational therapy; 17
* Sec. 4. AS 08.84.190 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 18
(8) "test and measurement" includes imaging, electrodiagnostic and 19
electrophysiological methods or techniques, and other methods or techniques 20
generally accepted by the physical therapist or occupational therapist professions in 21
the state for use in obtaining information about a patient in order to administer 22
therapy. 23