Sacramento, Calif.

Effective Jan. 1, California will require HME providers to be licensed. The new law creates a licensing category, "medical device retail facilities," and expands the scope of licensure to include pharmacies. It also eliminates the need for multiple licensing (HME providers that sold hospital beds, for example, were required under the old law to be licensed by the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation as bedding retailers and/or furniture retailers) and further defines home medical devices and services.

"We have achieved one license under the new legislation, and we are glad that the governor supports us and signed the bill," said Robert Achermann, executive director of the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers, which sponsored the bill.

In other news, CAMPS appears to have won the first round in its battle to get enteral supplies for patients in a home or a nursing facility exempted from state sales tax.

Current law states that the equipment is taxable when it's dispensed by an HME provider but not when dispensed by agencies. "These supplies are given to patients who have a vital medical necessity as part of their care, and it shouldn't matter where they are given," said Achermann.

The California State Board of Equalization met recently to consider the issue. "The outcome of the meeting was that the new interpretation of the existing laws adopted the tax exemption for those nutritional therapies whether they are used in the home or at an agency," said Laura Jonoubei, the board's program policy specialist.

The interpretation must now be approved by the Office of Administrative Law. If approved, it would become effective Feb. 1.

In other California news, the governor vetoed legislation that would have created a new licensure category for private-duty nursing agencies giving care to non-Medicare patients.