California PAs please read: Do you want to look to the future? Or, be stuck in the past? CAPA legislative affairs are hitting on all cylinders. The success of 2013 with the passage of two critical bills eliminating yet more barriers to PA practice was a testament to CAPA’s presence in Sacramento, and the efficiency and effectiveness of its legislative strategy. SB 352 removed the archaic barrier that prohibited PAs from supervising MAs across all medical office settings. SB 494 allows health plans to significantly increase the number of lives (patients) that can be assigned to a practice/physician based on the use of a PA. In 2014, CAPA is tackling the issue of PAs certifying disability, one that negatively affects my hospital-based practice every day. I have been a California PA for 33 years, and I can’t believe the speed at which the PA profession and awareness are growing. I had the privilege of giving the AAPA President’s award to then Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, who said that “PAs are bigger than a profession; we are a movement with the potential to fulfill the promise of health care.” This “movement” has been accelerated by the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Legislative bodies across this nation are more and more acting independently to allow PAs and others to practice at the height of their training. Why? Because it is the only way in which health care can be extended to the millions of Americans gaining access to health care for the first time. We need a new strategy and approach to this new reality, and the current CAPA board of directors, and the CAPA Nominating Committee endorsed candidates for the 2014-15 BOD embody this new strategy, and are committed to the future of the profession. There has never been a more important CAPA election than the one in 2014. There are some among us who long for the past, and the way that we used to do things like legislative affairs. California PAs have a simple but critical decision to make. Do you want to look to the future, or cling to the past? As a past CAPA and AAPA President, this decision is easy for me. I will be wholeheartedly supporting my CAPA and looking to build our profession’s future on an already strong foundation. I hope that you will too in a few short weeks.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:10:45 +0000
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