An Act To Lessen the Regulatory Burden on Medical Laboratories by Removing Outdated Requirements from the Maine Medical Laboratory Act
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1624
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: McCORMICK, STRANG BURGESS
Amends: 22 MRSA §2016, 22 MRSA §2032, 22 MRSA §2033

Legislative Document 
No. 1624 
S.P. 534 
In Senate, December 20, 2011 
An Act To Lessen the Regulatory Burden on Medical Laboratories 
by Removing Outdated Requirements from the Maine Medical 
Laboratory Act 
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 16, 2011.  Referred to the Committee 
on Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator McCORMICK of Kennebec. 
Cosponsored by Representative STRANG BURGESS of Cumberland. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §2016, first ¶, as amended by PL 1991, c. 528, Pt. J, §1 and 
affected by Pt. RRR and amended by c. 591, Pt. J, §1, is further amended to read: 
Application must be made on a form prescribed by the department.  Licenses must be 
issued to perform testing in one or more of the following categories or specialties:  
Histocompatability 
Histocompatibility; 
microbiology, 
including 
subcategories 
bacteriology, mycology, parasitology, virology; immunology or serology, including 
subcategories syphilis and nonsyphilis; chemistry, including subcategories routine, 
clinical microscopy or urinalysis and other, including toxicology; hematology, including 
coagulation; immunohematology, including subcategories blood group and Rh typing, Rh 
titers, cross matching, antibody detection and identification; pathology, including 
subcategories tissue, oral, diagnostic cytology; and radiobioassay.  All applications must 
be accompanied by a license application fee.   The application must be notarized and 
must contain the following information: 
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §2032, as repealed and replaced by PL 1975, c. 218, is amended 
to read: 
§2032.  Specimens 
No A person other than a licensed physician or one authorized by law shall may not 
manipulate a person for the collection of specimens or process or submit or act as an 
agent for the transmittal of specimens, except that technical personnel of a licensed 
medical laboratory may collect blood or remove stomach contents or collect material for 
smears and cultures under the direction or upon the request of a physician or dentist. 
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §2033, as repealed and replaced by PL 1975, c. 218, is amended 
to read: 
§2033.  Rebates or fee splitting prohibited 
The owner or director of a laboratory licensed under this Act, either personally or 
through an agent, shall may not practice in any manner which that offers or implies to 
offer rebates to persons submitting specimens or other fee splitting inducements, or 
participate in any fee splitting arrangement. This applies to contents of fee schedules, 
billing methods or personal solicitation. The contractual provision of laboratory services 
for a fixed fee independent of the number of specimens submitted for such services is 
declared to be a violation of this section. A copy of the itemized statement shall be sent to 
the patient. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Maine Medical Laboratory Act as follows: 
1.  It removes the requirement that an application for a medical laboratory license be 
notarized. Other licensing laws do not have this requirement; 
2.  It removes a provision that allows the technical personnel of a licensed medical 
laboratory to collect certain specimens.  Eliminating this provision provides that no 
person other than a licensed physician or a person authorized by law is allowed to 
manipulate a person for the collection of specimens or process or submit or act as an 
agent for the transmittal of specimens; and 
3.  It removes the requirement that a licensed medical laboratory send a copy of an 
itemized statement of laboratory services to the patient. Current practice is to send the 
itemized statement to the insurance company, the laboratory’s client or the patient.