Topeka ? Lawmakers on Tuesday sent Gov. Bill Graves a compromise bill that would start regulating naturopathic doctors but stops short of licensing them like medical doctors.

The measure, adopted 78-45 by the House, was part of a larger health-care bill approved last week by the Senate.

Kristin Heuertz, a spokeswoman for Graves, said the bill will be reviewed by the Governor’s Office before a decision is made whether to sign it into law.

The bill sets up a registration process for naturopathic physicians and establishes guidelines for practice and educational requirements. On July 1, 2004, people must be registered by the state to practice naturopathy before they can call themselves a “naturopath.”

The Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which regulates health-care providers, will be responsible for registration and regulation of naturopaths.

Supporters of naturopathic doctors have for years sought state licensure as a way to establish the natural-based treatments as a viable health-care alternative and to set up qualifications to protect the public from untrained practitioners.

“Registration will give naturopaths some time to prove their worth to Kansas,” said Rep. Gwen Welshimer, D-Wichita, who has pushed for similar naturopathic legislation for four years.

Several House members dismissed the proposal.

Rep. Carl Krehbiel, R-Moundridge, said the legislation will lead to attempts to require Medicaid to cover the cost of naturopathic treatment. Such a requirement would cost the public tens of millions of dollars, he said.

Rep. John Edmonds, R-Great Bend, said, “This bill deals with so-called alternative medicine. The correct term is quackery.”

But other lawmakers said the legislation was a solid compromise position between licensure and registration, and represented a lot of hard work and concessions on all sides of the issue.

Naturopathic doctors, including several in Lawrence, worked hard for passage of a bill.

“I’m 50 percent satisfied,” said Mehdi Khosh, a naturopath who practices in Lawrence with his brother Farhang Khosh. “This is better than nothing.”