Et Tu Eric! What have you done? You voted to deny people their Right to Alternative Medical Treatment!!!
You voted with Luke Malek!!!!! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO…we can’t believe it! Please Eric, tell us we’re dreaming. It’s all a bad dream.
What are we talking about? HB 181…Eric, we don’t need more government to fix bad government!
Here’s what the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s take on it is:
http://idahoreporter.com/idaho-house-to-fix-bad-government-with-more-government/
WE AGREE WITH THEM AND YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOW BETTER ERIC!!!!
Thank You I.F.F for shining a light on this important issue!
(TEXT OF IFF STORY) Sometimes in the halls of the Capitol in Boise, the answer to bad government is — wait for it — more government.
Such seems to be the case with a new proposal to license Naturopathic physicians, which passed the Idaho House on a 37 to 32 vote Tuesday.
Idaho law already regulates — at least in the wording — some Naturopathic practitioners. In practice, the code means nothing, though, as the board tasked with overseeing those rules remains empty.
That’s the result of a long standoff between practitioners schooled in certain accredited institutions and those who’ve taken different routes into the practice.
The bill representatives passed Tuesday would require all those wishing to call themselves Naturopathic doctors to obtain a license from the state. That license, as outlined, excludes all applicants who haven’t attended certain schools in the United States and Canada.
Proponents say the bill wouldn’t affect those who didn’t study in those schools and that the bill only gives more practitioner rights to those who have. Opponents say the bill would kill jobs and shut out of the market highly experienced Naturopathic practitioners.
Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, said the bill would only limit competition in the market, thereby driving up prices for consumers.
“It will likely do more harm than good,” he warned. “Licensing creates a monopoly for those who have a license.”
Rep. Gayle Batt, R-Wilder, produced an attorney general’s opinion on the measure that suggested the new bill is a near copy of the old one, which could create some legal confusion and questions.
Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, warned the measure would force many practitioners out of business, despite claims to the contrary from proponents.
“You definitely have excluded a very large number of naturopaths,” Loertscher said.
Michael Kalfeldt, a Meridian Naturopathic practitioner, told IdahoReporter.com this week the bill could reduce the number of men and women offering services from 120 to 20, an 83 percent supply reduction.
Rep. Kelley Packer, R-McCammon, told colleagues the bill would not affect people like Karlfeldt and others. She said the naturopaths who’ve attended the accredited schools need legal permission to offer certain services, like diagnostic scans and imaging.
“This group would like to practice to the full extent of their education,” Packer said. “To me, this is wonderful legislation.”
Known for his nitpicking of legal language, Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, warned the bill engenders confusion, could leave patients in a lurch and is the latest salvo in what he called “naturopathic wars.”
The bill, Luker confirmed, is an attempt by those educated in certain schools to exclude others from the practice.
Those who don’t meet the criteria laid out by the proposal and the oversight it would create would be barred from using the term doctor or any variant of that in advertising or signage.
Additionally, those without licenses would be forced to disclose their lack of licensed status to customers and receive written acknowledgment from patients that they don’t have state credentials.
Unlicensed practitioners must also tell customers they are “not licensed to practice medicine, surgery or naturopathic medicine or any other type of medicine.”
That’s serious.
Karlfeldt wrote on his Facebook account Tuesday about the pressure the legislation would put on this business, which employs 15 workers.
“Because they are not licensed, not able to call themselves doctors and are not able to accept insurance it will make it near impossible for them to compete on the open market,” he wrote. “This very fact will force many of these doctors out of business.”
The Idaho Chapter of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, the lead sponsor of the bill, said on its social media the legislation would not impede or negatively impact the work of Karlfeldt and others.
The bill now heads to the Idaho Senate. Karlfeldt and others have pledged to stop the measure in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, likely their last chance to stop the legislation from becoming law.
For many years, Chapter 51 in Idaho Code has governed the naturopath industry. This chapter was written many years ago and needs an update. For at least the last 10 years, the various groups have tried to come to a consensus on how to rewrite Chapter 51 to fit the various needs of those it covered; Chiropractors, Naturopaths, Naturopath Physicians,Acupuncturists, etc. However, they could not come up with something that everyone in their group was comfortable with. The main problem is the wide variety of differences in the services that those individuals are able to provide.
This year, the NDs decided that they would go out on their own, so that they could expand their services to include everything they are trained to provide, including lab work, imaging, Rx services, gynecological exams, and more. These services aren’t currently allowed under Chapter 51 and not everyone who is governed under Chapter 51 is certified to provide those services. It made the most sense to have a new chapter written, Chapter 54, which is specific just to the naturopathic pysicians and their services. HB181 provides for this new chapter and clearly organizes the working parameters for the NDs. It does NOT affect the other providers who are currently licensed under Chapter 51. Some Naturopaths actually have Chiropractic education, and come under control of the Chiropractic board.
In committee, it was made clear to everyone there that HB181 simply adds a new chaper for the qualified naturopathic physicians and allows them to increase their scope of work. Chapter 51 is still in code and will still allow all other providers to continue working in their current capacities. The board which they fall under has been in disarray for the last 7 years; there have been changes suggested to update and repair that system, which to this date have not been implemented.
To reiterate, HB181 creats a new chapter under the same code, Chapter 54, for naturopathic physicians, while the current law, Chapter 51, stays in place for all others operating under that code. Nothing has changed for the past 7 years for those Naturopaths who have been practicing under Chapter 51.
[Note From Chester: Eric, we love you Bud, but despite the fact that probably do more preparation and give more thought to bills than the vast majority of other Reps, on this one, we can go with you. Like most “Licensing” statutes, this one will limit competition among Practitioners and in the long run the Patients will suffer. This is really all about a few, controlling the industry. We’re sad to see that some people just can’t see that professional standards are so often used as a weapon to sideline competition. We’d like to give you a pass on this one, but the logic escapes us as to how anyone, who values what Naturepaths do, thinks it would be productive to have a Medical Doctor and Pharmacist (Not friends at all to ND’s) on the board deciding who gets to call them selves a natural doctor. Maybe you should talk with Wayne Hoffman? He’s very versed in this issue. P.S. Hey, have we mentioned lately how happy we are that you got rid of Ed Morse???? In Liberty…Chester]