With nine members voting against it and only seven in favor, House Bill 17-71 was rejected.
Introduced by Rep. Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan, H.B. 17-71 would have allowed qualified medical professionals from foreign countries to be licensed in the CNMI.
The bill, according to Iguel, aimed to address the shortage of healthcare providers in the commonwealth.
But the CNMI Health Care Professional Licensing Board said it cannot endorse the bill “without serious modification in several areas.”
Licensing board executive director Florence C. Sablan spoke to the House on behalf of the board.
According to the licensing board, H.B. 17-71 is not nearly restrictive enough with regard to the required training, experience, credentialing and verification of good standing that is needed to ensure that comparable U.S. standard requirement is met.
Sablan said the board is concerned that H.B. 17-71 could allow foreign-trained physicians with little or no similarity to U.S. standardized healthcare training to be eligible to practice in the CNMI.
Once CNMI license is granted to a foreign-trained doctor, the board said it could be used to pursue more stringent licenses granted in another U.S. state or jurisdiction.
The board is concerned about “upholding the credibility and integrity of the CNMI licensing procedures.”
Reps. Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan, and Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan, said they need more information that support the bill.
Rep. Teresita A. Santos, Ind.-Rota, said she understands there are “stumbling blocks” in recruiting foreign physicians, but it is incumbent upon them as public servants to immediately address the shortage of physicians that is critical to the delivery of healthcare in the commonwealth.
She said affordable healthcare and medical practitioners, be they U.S.- or foreign-licensed, are crucial to the healthcare system.
Restrictions on foreign licensed practitioners may not help, she added.
“With the CNMI’s depleting financial resources, the cost of referring patients to foreign countries such as the Philippines and Japan and the lack of medical practitioners in our hospitals underscore the need to allow and encourage qualified medical professionals, including foreign medical professionals, to practice in the commonwealth,” Santos said.
Those who voted no to the bill were Deleon Guerrero; Demapan; Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan; House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan; Reps. Frank S. Dela Cruz, R-Saipan; Ray A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan; Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan; Trenton B. Conner, R-Tinian; and Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan.
Those who voted yes were Santos; Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan; House Floor Leader George N. Camacho, Ind.-Saipan; Reps. Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan; Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant-Saipan; Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan; and Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan.
Absent were Reps. Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan; Antonio P. Sablan, R-Saipan; Iguel, the bill’s author; and Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan.
