Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to design and implement a program to provide a telecommunications device capable of serving the needs of individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired, together with a single party line, at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to any subscriber who is certified as an individual who is deaf or hearing impaired by a licensed physician and surgeon, audiologist, or a qualified state or federal agency, as determined by the commission. Existing law also authorizes a physician assistant to certify the needs of an individual who has been diagnosed by a physician and surgeon as being deaf or hard of hearing to participate in the program after reviewing the medical records or copies of the medical records containing that diagnosis. This bill would additionally authorize a nurse practitioner to certify for this purpose the needs of an individual who has been diagnosed by a physician and surgeon as being deaf or hard of hearing to participate in the program after reviewing the medical records or copies of the medical records containing that diagnosis. Existing law requires the commission to design and implement a program whereby specialized or supplemental telephone communications equipment may be provided to subscribers who are certified to be disabled at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate. Existing law requires that the certification, including a statement of visual or medical need for specialized telecommunications equipment, be provided by a licensed optometrist, physician and surgeon, or physician assistant, acting within the scope of practice of the applicable license, or by a qualified state or federal agency as determined by the commission. This bill would additionally authorize a nurse practitioner to certify a subscriber to be disabled for this purpose. Existing law additionally requires the commission to design and implement a program to provide access to a speech-generating device to any subscriber who is certified as having a speech disability at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate. Existing law requires that the certification be provided by a licensed physician, licensed speech-language pathologist, or qualified state or federal agency. This bill would additionally authorize a nurse practitioner to certify a subscriber as having a speech disability for this purpose. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2881 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 497 to be operative only if this bill and AB 497 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.