After several years of collaborative work with members of Congress, the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act (H.R 302/S. 808) was signed into law by President Trump Oct. 5, a monumental event for NATA and the athletic training profession.

“The passing of the national Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act is a historic day for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, its 45,000-plus members and athletes of all levels and ages,” said NATA President Tory Lindley, MA, ATC. “While this bipartisan law advances safety practices for all sports medicine professionals, it will greatly impact athletic trainers who routinely travel with teams to provide preventative and immediate care. It recognizes, at an unprecedented level, the integral and lifesaving role athletic trainers, as well as all sports medicine professionals, play in athletic health care.”

Under the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act, health care services provided by a covered sports medicine professional to an athlete, an athletic team, or a staff member of the team outside of his or her home state would be deemed to have occurred in the professional’s primary state of licensure. Medical services provided in the secondary state will be treated as occurring in the primary state, if the secondary state’s licensure requirements are substantially similar to the primary state. Sports medicine professionals can now engage in the treatment of injured athletes across state lines without fear of great professional harm, such as loss of license to practice, while protected from monetary loss with professional liability insurance.

You can read the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act in its entirety. NATA has also created a document explaining what you need to know about the new law.