State

PAs who are combatting the nation’s opioid epidemic will have more flexibility in two states due to favorable decisions made by their licensing boards.

Representatives from PAs for Puerto Rico and AAPA’s Advocacy team recently met with the office of Puerto Rico’s new Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon (designated as Resident Commissioner). They discussed Puerto Rico’s healthcare crisis and why authorizing PAs to practice on the island is part of the solution.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed S.B. 1014 into law today. The new legislation, which becomes effective on September 7, 2017, allows PAs to work with “collaborating” rather than “supervising” physicians, expands PA prescriptive authority for Schedule III medications to 30 days from the current restriction of 72 hours, allows PAs to be reimbursed at the same rate as physicians and APRNs by prohibiting discrimination by insurance plans, adds an additional PA to the medical board, and authorizes PAs to sign an extensive list of forms that previously had to be signed by a physician, including death certificates.