NEW YORK Reintroduces Bills to Create Laser Hair Removal License

Bill Name: Assembly Bill 2623 (A 2623) and Senate Bill S 3607

Primary Sponsor: A 2623 Assembly person Amy Paulin, S3607 Senator Lea Webb

Status: A 2623 1/03/2024 Referred to House Committee on Economic Development.

S 3607 3/27/2024 Passed Senate referred to Assembly committee on economic development

AmSpa’s Take: It is clear that the current situation for laser hair removal (LHR) in New York cannot persist forever. However, no LHR bill in the last several years has gained enough support to move forward.

Outlook: These bills are reintroduced bills from 2023. S 3607 had passed the Senate but failed to make it out of committee in the Assembly. It is unknown if these bills will fare better this year.

Analysis: Currently, New York does not regulate laser hair removal (LHR) either as a medical procedure or an aesthetics procedure. This means that no license or training is needed for anyone to offer the service. This is unusual compared with the rest of the country, which typically treats it as either part of the practice of medicine or requires a technician license to set a minimum training requirement.

Efforts to regulate LHR in New York have been a long and ongoing story. We previously discussed some of the issues in an article. For the last several years, other bills have been introduced to regulate LHR but, so far, none have been passed. A 2623 and S 3607 continue this tradition, though it remains to be seen if they will do better in 2024 than they did in 2023.

A 2623 would create a license for a “Laser Hair Removal Technician” under the Appearance Enhancement Advisory Committee, as well as for “LHR facilities.” This is the same body that covers cosmetologists, nail specialists, estheticians and similar practices. A 2623 would require the adoption of rules and standards for the licensure and practice of LHR technicians and for the LHR facilities where they practice. These rules must at a minimum identify:

1. State-approved training courses;
2. A registration fee for LHR establishments;
3. A minimum age requirement;
4. A minimum number of hours of training;
5. A minimum number of training procedures performed on volunteers; and
6. Continued certification by a nationally accredited organization.

LHR facilities would need to maintain a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance in addition to the other adopted rules and standards.

Importantly, A 2623 gives the department the option to waive training and education requirements for current estheticians who are already performing LHR. These current LHR practicing estheticians would still need to pass an approved competency exam to gain the new LHR technician license. This would, obviously, substantially reduce the costs for estheticians to continue their services and comply with the new regulations. Unlike prior bills, A 2623 does not contain a requirement for physician supervision or oversight in the LHR process.

Most other states treat LHR, along with other laser and light-based procedures, as medical procedures that need to be performed under a physician’s delegation and supervision, with a few states treating it as a separate specialty license, as A 2623 and S 3607 would. Unusually, this year, several states have introduced bills that would require a health care license to perform LHR, making these other state’s bills more restrictive than the New York bills. If you would like additional information, to read the bill, or to contact the sponsors you can find the information you need through these links: A 2623 and S 3607.