The following fees apply to the licensure of physicians and surgeons:
(a)
Each applicant for a certificate based upon a national board diplomate certificate, each applicant for a certificate based on reciprocity, and each applicant for a certificate based upon written examination, shall pay a nonrefundable application and processing fee, as set forth in subdivision (b), at the time the application is filed.
(b)
The application and processing fee shall be fixed by the board by May 1 of each year, to become effective on July 1 of that year. The fee shall be fixed at an amount necessary to recover the actual costs of the licensing program as projected for the fiscal year commencing on
the date the fees become effective.
(c)
Each applicant who qualifies for a certificate, as a condition precedent to its issuance, in addition to other fees required herein, shall pay an initial license fee, if any, in an amount fixed by the board consistent with this section. The initial license fee shall not exceed seven hundred ninety dollars ($790). An applicant enrolled in an approved postgraduate training program shall be required to pay only 50 percent of the initial license fee.
(d)
The biennial renewal fee shall be fixed by the board consistent with this section and shall not exceed seven hundred ninety dollars ($790).
(e)
Notwithstanding subdivisions (c) and (d), and to ensure that subdivision (k) of Section 125.3 is revenue neutral with regard to the board, the board may, by regulation, increase the amount
of the initial license fee and the biennial renewal fee by an amount required to recover both of the following:
(1)
The average amount received by the board during the three fiscal years immediately preceding July 1, 2006, as reimbursement for the reasonable costs of investigation and enforcement proceedings pursuant to Section 125.3.
(2)
Any increase in the amount of investigation and enforcement costs incurred by the board after January 1, 2006, that exceeds the average costs expended for investigation and enforcement costs during the three fiscal years immediately preceding July 1, 2006. When calculating the amount of costs for services for which the board paid an hourly rate, the board shall use the average number of hours for which the board paid for those costs over these prior three fiscal years, multiplied by the hourly rate paid by the board for those costs as of July 1,
2005. Beginning January 1, 2009, the board shall instead use the average number of hours for which it paid for those costs over the three-year period of fiscal years 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08, multiplied by the hourly rate paid by the board for those costs as of July 1, 2005. In calculating the increase in the amount of investigation and enforcement costs, the board shall include only those costs for which it was eligible to obtain reimbursement under Section 125.3 and shall not include probation monitoring costs and disciplinary costs, including those associated with the citation and fine process and those required to implement subdivision (b) of Section 12529 of the Government Code.
(f)
Notwithstanding Section 163.5, the delinquency fee shall be 10 percent of the biennial renewal fee.
(g)
The duplicate certificate and endorsement fees shall each be fifty dollars ($50), and
the certification and letter of good standing fees shall each be ten dollars ($10).
(h)
It is the intent of the Legislature that, in setting fees pursuant to this section, the board shall seek to maintain a reserve in the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California in an amount not less than two nor more than four months’ operating expenditures.
(i)
Not later than January 1, 2012, the Office of State Audits and Evaluations within the Department of Finance shall commence a preliminary review of the board’s financial status, including, but not limited to, its projections related to expenses, revenues, and reserves, and the impact of the loan from the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California to the General Fund made pursuant to the Budget Act of 2008. The office shall make the results of this review available upon request by June 1, 2012. This review shall be funded
from the existing resources of the office during the 2011–12 fiscal year.