Newswise — WASHINGTON – West Virginia became the fifth state to enact the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact after Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the legislation into law yesterday. Sponsored by Delegates Joe Ellington, Gary Howell, Eric Householder, Kelli Sobonya, Barbara Fleischauer, and Cindy Frich, and Sen. Ryan Ferns, HB 2496/SB 330 will support medical license portability and expand access to health care, particularly to those in underserved areas.

The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact establishes a voluntary, expedited medical licensure pathway for those physicians seeking licenses in multiple states, while ensuring state regulatory oversight necessary to protect patients. West Virginia joins South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho as states where the Compact has been signed into law. To formalize the Compact agreement, the Compact must be enacted in seven states or U.S. jurisdictions.

The final model Interstate Medical Licensure Compact legislation was released in September 2014. Since then, 17 states have formally introduced the legislation in their legislative chambers and nearly 30 state medical and osteopathic boards have publicly expressed support for the Compact.

For more information about the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, visit: http://licenseportability.org/.

About the Federation of State Medical Boards: The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is a national non-profit organization representing all medical boards within the United States and its territories that license and discipline allopathic and osteopathic physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other healthcare professionals. FSMB leads by promoting excellence in medical practice, licensure and regulation as the national resource and voice on behalf of state medical boards in their protection of the public. To learn more about FSMB visit: http://www.fsmb.org/. You can also follow FSMB on Twitter (@theFSMB and @FSMBPolicy).

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