Anesthesiologist assistants; allow licensure under physicians assistant licensure law.

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To: Public Health and Human
Services
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Mansell

HOUSE BILL NO. 1481

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 73-26-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
DELETE THE PROHIBITION ON LICENSING ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS 2
UNDER THE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT LICENSURE LAW; TO AMEND SECTION 3
73-26-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT APPLICANTS FOR 4
LICENSURE AS A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT WHO HAVE PASSED THE 5
CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL COMMISSION 6
FOR CERTIFICATION OF ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS (NCCAA) AND MET 7
OTHER REQUIREMENTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR LICENSURE AS A PHYSICIAN 8
ASSISTANT; TO AMEND SECTION 73-26-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 9
DELETE THE PROHIBITION ON THE STATE BOARD OF MEDICAL LICENSURE 10
FROM AUTHORIZING PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS TO ADMINISTER OR MONITOR 11
GENERAL INHALED ANESTHESIA, EPIDURAL ANESTHESIA, SPINAL ANESTHESIA 12
OR MONITORED ANESTHESIA AS UTILIZED IN SURGICAL PROCEDURES; AND 13
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 14
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 15
SECTION 1. Section 73-26-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 16
amended as follows: 17
73-26-1. As used in this chapter: 18
(a) "Board" means the State Board of Medical Licensure. 19
(b) "Physician assistant" means a person who meets the 20
board's criteria for licensure as a physician assistant and is 21
licensed as a physician assistant by the board. * * * 22
(c) "Supervising physician" means a doctor of medicine 23
or a doctor of osteopathic medicine who holds an unrestricted 24
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license from the board, and who is in the full-time practice of 25
medicine and who has been approved by the board to supervise 26
physician assistants. 27
(d) "Supervision" means overseeing and accepting 28
responsibility for the medical services rendered by a physician 29
assistant in a manner approved by the board. 30
SECTION 2. Section 73-26-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 31
amended as follows: 32
73-26-3. (1) The State Board of Medical Licensure shall 33
license and regulate the practice of physician assistants in 34
accordance with the provisions of this chapter. 35
(2) All physician assistants who are employed as physician 36
assistants by a Department of Veterans Affairs health care 37
facility, a branch of the United States military or the Federal 38
Bureau of Prisons, and who are practicing as physician assistants 39
in a federal facility in Mississippi on July 1, 2000, and those 40
physician assistants who trained in a Mississippi physician 41
assistant program and have been continuously practicing as a 42
physician assistant in Mississippi since 1976, shall be eligible 43
for licensure if they submit an application for licensure to the 44
board by December 31, 2000. Physician assistants licensed under 45
this subsection will be eligible for license renewal so long as 46
they meet standard renewal requirements. 47
(3) Before December 31, 2004, applicants for physician 48
assistant licensure, except those licensed under subsection (2) of 49
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this section, must be graduates of physician assistant educational 50
programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied 51
Health Educational Programs or its predecessor or successor 52
agency, have passed the certification examination administered by 53
the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants 54
(NCCPA) or by the National Commission for certification of 55
Anesthesiologist Assistants (NCCAA), have current NCCPA or NCCAA 56
certification, and possess a minimum of a baccalaureate degree. 57
Physician assistants meeting these licensure requirements will be 58
eligible for license renewal so long as they meet standard renewal 59
requirements. 60
(4) On or after December 31, 2004, applicants for physician 61
assistant licensure must meet all of the requirements in 62
subsection (3) of this section and, in addition, must have 63
obtained a minimum of a master's degree in a health-related or 64
science field. 65
(5) Applicants for licensure who meet all licensure 66
requirements except for the master's degree may be granted a 67
temporary license by the board so long as they can show proof of 68
enrollment in a master's program that will, when completed, meet 69
the master's degree requirement. The temporary license will be 70
valid for no longer than one (1) year, and may not be renewed. 71
(6) For new graduate physician assistants and all physician 72
assistants receiving initial licenses in the state, except those 73
licensed under subsection (2) of this section, supervision shall 74
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require the on-site presence of a supervising physician for one 75
hundred twenty (120) days. 76
(7) To qualify for a Mississippi physician assistant 77
license, an applicant must have successfully been cleared for 78
licensure through an investigation that shall consist of a 79
determination as to good moral character and verification that the 80
prospective licensee is not guilty of or in violation of any 81
statutory ground for denial of licensure. To assist the board in 82
conducting its licensure investigation, all applicants shall 83
undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the 84
Mississippi central criminal database and the Federal Bureau of 85
Investigation criminal history database. Each applicant shall 86
submit a full set of the applicant's fingerprints in a form and 87
manner prescribed by the board, which shall be forwarded to the 88
Mississippi Department of Public Safety (department) and the 89
Federal Bureau of Investigation Identification Division for this 90
purpose. 91
Any and all state or national criminal history records 92
information obtained by the board that is not already a matter of 93
public record shall be deemed nonpublic and confidential 94
information restricted to the exclusive use of the board, its 95
members, officers, investigators, agents and attorneys in 96
evaluating the applicant's eligibility or disqualification for 97
licensure, and shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records 98
Act of 1983. Except when introduced into evidence in a hearing 99
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before the board to determine licensure, no such information or 100
records related thereto shall, except with the written consent of 101
the applicant or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, be 102
released or otherwise disclosed by the board to any other person 103
or agency. 104
The board shall provide to the department the fingerprints of 105
the applicant, any additional information that may be required by 106
the department, and a form signed by the applicant consenting to 107
the check of the criminal records and to the use of the 108
fingerprints and other identifying information required by the 109
state or national repositories. 110
The board shall charge and collect from the applicant, in 111
addition to all other applicable fees and costs, such amount as 112
may be incurred by the board in requesting and obtaining state and 113
national criminal history records information on the applicant. 114
SECTION 3. Section 73-26-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 115
amended as follows: 116
73-26-5. (1) The board shall promulgate and publish 117
reasonable rules and regulations necessary to enable it to 118
discharge its functions and to enforce the provisions of law 119
regulating the practice of physician assistants. Those rules 120
shall include, but are not limited to: qualifications for 121
licensure for physician assistants; scope of practice of physician 122
assistants; supervision of physician assistants; identification of 123
physician assistants; grounds for disciplinary actions and 124
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ST: Anesthesiologist assistants; allow
licensure under physicians assistant licensure
law.
discipline of physician assistants, which shall specifically 125
include discipline for violation(s) of the provisions of Sections 126
41-121-1 through 41-121-9 relating to deceptive advertisement by 127
health care practitioners; and setting and charging reasonable 128
fees for licensure and license renewals for physician assistants. 129
* * * In addition, the board shall not adopt any rule or 130
regulation or impose any requirement regarding the licensing of 131
physician assistants that conflicts with the prohibitions in 132
Section 73-49-3. The board shall promulgate rules for licensure 133
and license renewals in accordance with Section 33-1-39. 134
(2) If the board appoints a task force or committee to 135
address physician assistant regulation, at least one (1) member of 136
the task force shall be a nurse practitioner who is a member of 137
the Mississippi Board of Nursing or a nurse practitioner appointee 138
selected by the board from a list of three (3) recommendations 139
submitted by the Mississippi Nurses Association, and at least one 140
(1) member shall be a physician assistant selected by the board 141
from a list of three (3) recommendations submitted by the 142
Mississippi Academy of Physician Assistants. 143
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 144
and after July 1, 2026. 145