South Carolina H 3996: Anesthesiologist Assistants

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3996 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 29, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3996

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Polled Out Of Committee

Majority Favorable

April 29, 2025

H. 3996

Introduced 
by Reps. Sessions and Chapman 

S. Printed 4/29/25--S.

Read the first time April 24, 2025

________

The committee on Senate Medical 
Affairs

To whom was referred a Bill (H. 3996) to amend 
the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 40-47-1250, relating to 
supervision of anesthesiologist's assistants, so as to increase the number of, etc., 
respectfully

Report:

Has polled the Bill out majority favorable.

_______

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 40-47-1250, RELATING TO SUPERVISION OF ANESTHESIOLOGIST'S ASSISTANTS, 
SO AS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ANESTHESIOLOGIST'S ASSISTANTS THAT AN ANESTHESIOLOGIST 
MAY SUPERVISE; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 40-47-1240, RELATING TO LICENSURE OF 
ANESTHESIOLOGIST'S ASSISTANTS, SO AS TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT LICENSURE 
APPLICANTS MUST APPEAR BEFORE A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS AND 
PRESENT EVIDENCE OF CERTAIN RELEVANT ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS AND KNOWLEDGE.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 40-47-1250 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
40-47-1250. An anesthesiologist's assistant shall practice only under the 
supervision of a physician who is actively and directly engaged in the clinical 
practice of medicine and meets the definition of being a supervising 
anesthesiologist. An anesthesiologist may not supervise more than two four anesthesiologist's 
assistants at any one time.

SECTION 2. Section 40-47-1240 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
40-47-1240. Except as otherwise provided in this 
article, an individual must obtain a license in accordance with this article 
before the individual may practice as an anesthesiologist's assistant. The 
board shall grant a license as an anesthesiologist's assistant to an applicant 
who has:

 (1) 
submitted a completed application on forms provided by the board;

 (2) 
paid the nonrefundable application fees established in this article;

 (3) 
certified that he or she is mentally and physically able to engage safely in 
practice as an anesthesiologist's assistant;

 (4) 
submitted evidence to the board that the applicant has obtained a baccalaureate 
or higher degree from an institution of higher education accredited by an 
organization recognized by the Commission on Higher Education. This degree 
program must have included courses in these areas of study:

 (a) 
general biology;

 (b) 
general chemistry;

 (c) 
organic chemistry;

 (d) 
physics;

 (e) 
calculus; and

 (5) 
submitted evidence to the board that the applicant has obtained a 
graduate-level degree from a program accredited by the Commission on 
Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, or any of the commission's 
successor organizations, and the graduate degree program must have included the 
following:

 (a) 
courses in the basic sciences of anesthesia, including general pharmacology, 
physiology, pathophysiology, anatomy, and biochemistry, and these courses must 
be presented as a continuum of didactic courses designed to teach students the 
foundations of human biological existence on which clinical correlations to 
anesthesia practice are based;

 (b) 
pharmacology for the anesthetic sciences which must include instruction in the 
anesthetic principles of pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, 
uptake and distribution, intravenous anesthetics and narcotics, and volatile 
anesthetics;

 (c) 
physics in anesthesia; and

 (d) 
fundamentals of anesthetic sciences, presented as a continuum of courses 
covering a series of topics in basic medical sciences with special emphasis on 
the effects of anesthetics on normal physiology and pathophysiology;

 (6) 
submitted evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant holds current 
certification from the National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist's 
Assistants and that the requirements for receiving the certification included 
passage of an examination to determine the individual's competence to practice 
as an anesthesiologist's assistant;

 (7) 
no licensure, certificate, or registration as an anesthesiologist's assistant 
under current discipline, revocation, suspension, probation, or investigation 
for cause resulting from the applicant's practice as an anesthesiologist's 
assistant in any jurisdiction; and

 (8) appeared before a board 
member or board designee with his or her sponsoring anesthesiologist, 
presenting all original diplomas and certificates and demonstrated knowledge of 
the contents