PROPOSED RULEMAKING
STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS
[49 PA. CODE CH. 39]
Deletion and Correction of Fees
[34 Pa.B. 55] The State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators (Board) proposes to amend § 39.72 (relating to fees) to read as set forth in Annex A.
A. Effective Date
The final-form rulemaking will be effective upon final-form publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
B. Statutory Authority
The amendments are authorized under section 812.1 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 279.3a) and section 7.1(a) of the Nursing Home Administrators License Act (act) (63 P. S. § 1107.1(a)). Section 7.1(a) of the act authorizes the Board to fix fees by regulation. Section 4(a)(1) and (2) of the act (63 P. S. § 1104(a)(1) and (2)) sets forth the functions and duties of the Board, which include the development and application of appropriate techniques, including examinations, for determining whether an individual meets standards to receive a license as a nursing home administrator. Section 4(c) of the act authorizes the Board to make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with law, as may be necessary for the proper performance of its duties. Section 7 of the act (63 P. S. § 1107) directs the Board to prescribe the subject, character, manner, time and place of the examination and requires that all examinations shall be prepared and administered by a qualified and approved professional testing organization.
C. Background and Purpose
Deletion of Examination Fees
The General Assembly has indicated its preference for the recognition of National uniform examinations and grading services in accordance with section 812.1 of The Administrative Code of 1929. The Board currently requires two examinations for initial licensure: the National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long-Term Care Administrators (NAB) examination and a State rules and regulations examination. The proposed amendment to § 39.72 deletes the examination fees for the NAB examination, the State rules and regulations examination and the combined examination. These fees are set by the testing organization which develops and administers the examinations, not by the Board. All 51 state boards or licensing agencies administer the NAB examination as a requirement for licensure and the examination fees are uniform throughout the United States. To avoid the necessity of amending its regulations whenever the testing organization might change the fees, the Board proposes to delete references to the examination fees.
The fees for the examinations are established by the NAB and communicated to applicants by both the NAB and the Board as part of the licensure application. Applicants for these exams pay the examination fees directly to the National examiners, with a certified check or money order payable to NAB, which the Board collects with the application submitted to the Board. The fee is held by the Board until the application is approved. After the Board grants the applicant permission to take the licensing examination, the fee payable to the NAB is transmitted to the test administrator. It is unnecessary and impractical for the Board to continue to publish the National examiners' examination fees in § 39.72. Because examination fees are no longer established by the Board, section 7.1 of the act is inapplicable as to the National uniform examination and the State rules and regulations examination developed by the National examiner. Thus, the Board is eliminating reference to these examination fees in § 39.72.
Other references to examination fees are in §§ 39.5(a)(3) and 39.6(b) (relating to requirements for admission to licensing examination; examination procedures; and examination applications). These sections require that the candidate for admission to the licensing examination pay the required fee for examination and licensure and also that the examination application be accompanied by the required fee. It would be inappropriate to delete these references to the examination fee, when the examination fee will continue to be submitted to the Board and transmitted to the test administrator once the application for examination is approved by the Board. There are no fees paid directly to the test administrator. All certified checks or money orders for the examination are made payable to the NAB, the National examiner and the test developer.
Correction of Fees for Continuing Education Program Applications
The fee for continuing education program application per clock hour was changed from $10 per clock hour to $15 per clock hour as part of a final-form rulemaking published at 30 Pa.B. 6199 (December 2, 2000). This fee is for continuing education providers seeking Board approval of an upcoming course. However, this fee was inadvertently published as $10 per clock hour in another final-form rulemaking published at 31 Pa.B. 1362 (March 10, 2001). The need for the $15 per clock hour fee was explained in the final-form rulemaking published at 30 Pa.B. 6199, promulgated under the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 745.1--745.12). This proposed rulemaking corrects the erroneous fee published at 31 Pa.B. 1362.
In addition, the fee for continuing education individual program applications was initially proposed to be deleted in a proposed rulemaking published at 29 Pa.B. 662 (February 6, 1999), because the Board intended to eliminate all individual retroactive approval for continuing education courses. In light of the concerns of the commentators on the proposed rulemaking, the Board reinstated limited retroactive continuing education course approval for individuals in the final-form rulemaking published at 31 Pa.B. 1362. However, the fee for continuing education individual program applications was not reinstated in the final-form rulemaking. The need for the $20 per application fee was explained in the final-form rulemaking published at 18 Pa.B. 3211 (July 23, 1988), promulgated under the Regulatory Review Act. This proposed rulemaking corrects the erroneous omission of the fee published at 31 Pa.B. 1362.
D. Fiscal Impact and Paperwork Requirements
The deletion of examination fees will have no adverse fiscal impact on the Board or its licensees. The continuing education fees will have fiscal impact on the Board and its licensees, but only insofar as it will reinstate the proper fees and permit the Board to charge the fees for continuing education approval which it has continuing authority to charge. The proposed rulemaking will have no adverse fiscal impact on the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. The proposed rulemaking will impose no additional paperwork requirements upon the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions or the private sector.
E. Sunset Date
The Board monitors its regulations on a continuing basis. Therefore, no sunset date has been assigned.
F. Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on December 16, 2003, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the Chairpersons of the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee and the House Professional Licensure Committee. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey any comments, recommendations or objections to the proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections shall specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor of comments, recommendations or objections raised.
G. Public Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, recommendations or objections regarding this proposed rulemaking to Christina Stuckey, Board Administrator, State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649, within 30 days following publication of this proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Reference No. 16A-628 (Deletion of Examination Fees) when submitting comments.
ROBERT H. MORROW, NHA,
ChairpersonFiscal Note: 16A-628. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A
TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND
VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND
OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 39. STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS
RENEWAL § 39.72. Fees.
The following is a schedule of fees charged by the Board:
* * * * * [N.A.B. examination fee . . . . . . $235
State rules and regulations examination . . . . . $87
Complete nursing home administration
examination . . . . . . . $322]* * * * * Continuing education program application fee
per clock hour . . . . . . [$10] $15Continuing education individual program
application fee . . . . . . . $20
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-15. Filed for public inspection January 2, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
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