KANSAS Bill Regulates Laser Hair Removal
Bill Name: House Bill 2643 (HB 2643) Senate Bill 461 (SB 461)
Primary Sponsor: Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, House Health and Human Services Committee
Status: HB 2643 04/30/2024: House Died in Committee.
SB 461 04/30/2024: Senate Died in Committee
AmSpa’s Take: When states adopt these sorts of regulations, they tend to include skin-based laser treatments as well as hair removal. Normally, laser hair removal (LHR)-only regulation creates a separate specialty license, but that is not currently the case here.
Outlook: These bills are in the first steps of the process. Since they are both sponsored by the committees where they were assigned it is likely they will be treated favorably in the committee review process.
Analysis: Currently, in Kansas, as in most states, laser hair removal (LHR) is regulated generally as part of the practice of medicine. Based on current Kansas board rules, physician assistants (PAs), advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and unlicensed medical assistants (MAs) are all able to perform LHR under appropriate supervision. HB 2643 and SB 461 would create special rules and standards for LHR practices that would have more relaxed supervision requirements, but would exclude MAs.
HB 2643 would allow PAs, APRNs, RNs, LPNs to become laser practitioners and perform LHR. The laser practitioners would be able to provide the LHR treatment without a physician performing an evaluation. To do this, the laser practitioners would need to complete a laser practitioner training program and practice in a LHR facility. The training program must be at least 40 hours in length, must be a combination of didactic and hands-on training, and could be completed through a third-party provider or internally through the LHR facility.
Each LHR facility would need to be overseen by a physician. The physician would need to establish protocols for the LHR procedures and complication management and remain available for communication while procedures are being performed. The physician could either be present on site or be available through a real-time two-way telecommunication system. The physician must review at least 10% of the LHR patient records. And, for LHR purposes, the physician would not be subject to the normal PA supervision limit of three.
In relation to other states, the prospective regulation in HB 2643 is a bit unusual. To begin, Kansas already has broad medical delegation rules that include LHR. And, by allowing the practitioners to perform the treatments without prior evaluation and under offsite supervision, HB 2643 is substantially broader than the current supervision rules in Kansas. However, it only applies to LHR, so it is very narrow in its scope. Additionally, in Kansas, APRNs who are nurse practitioners are independent, but under HB 2643 they would need to work under a physician when doing LHR. With the exceptions of MAs, the licensees who can currently perform LHR are the same that HB 2643 would allow. This contrasts with other states’ rules, which fall into two categories: 1) They adopt LHR technician licenses that allow non-health care professionals who qualify to perform LHR; or 2) they adopt training and supervision rules for health care professionals performing a broad range of cosmetic laser procedures. If you would like additional information, to read the language of the bills or to contact the sponsors or committee, you can find the information you need through these links: SB 461 and HB 2643.