Advocacy

PAs in Rhode Island will have greater ability to authorize care for their patients thanks to the enactment of two new laws. These important changes were the product of a collaborative effort between the RIAPA and the Rhode Island State Nurses Association.

With the recent enactment of Public Act No. 18-168 (HB 5163), Connecticut eliminated the restriction on the number of PAs with whom a physician may practice.

Oklahoma PAs are celebrating increased access to loan repayment and scholarship programs administered by the state’s Physician Manpower Training Commission, thanks to the enactment of a new law H.B. 2987.

Louisiana PAs are celebrating the enactment of a new law which removes an outdated requirement for prescriptive authority and increases the number of PAs with whom a physician may practice. Act 475 was signed on May 23, and becomes effective on August 1.

Kansas patients who receive healthcare services from PAs via telemedicine will now be assured that these services will be covered by insurers due to the recent enactment of H.B. 2028.

In 2015, PAs in Illinois were facing major challenges. The profession was losing ground in the marketplace and would soon face the sunset of the law authorizing PA practice in the entire state. Concerned about the direction that their profession was heading, the Illinois Academy of PAs decided to undertake a major overhaul of their organization and advocacy efforts.

The District of Columbia’s (D.C.) Board of Medicine (BoMed) recently modernized and streamlined PA practice.   In a post on its website, BoMed announced that it will no longer issue letters “approving” delegation agreements. Effective immediately, receipt of delegation agreements will simply be confirmed via email.

On May 8, 2018, Gov. Larry Hogan signed HB 591/SB 549 into law. The legislation, which becomes effective on Oct. 1, 2018, was a priority bill for the Maryland Academy of PAs (MAPA) and authorizes PAs to prepare and dispense medications they can already prescribe within their scope of practice.