For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Brooke Braun
American Academy of Physician Assistants
703-836-2272, ext. 3502
bbraun@aapa.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
American Academy of Physician Assistants Supports the Positive Changes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Offers PAs
The
American Academy of Physician Assistants supports the many provisions
of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that offer
tremendous promise in improving health care for all Americans. PPACA
makes significant strides in expanding the roles of primary care
medicine and team-based health care, expands preventive screenings and
treatments to all patients, increases access to quality health care in
underserved communities, encourages the growth of health information
technology, and addresses health disparities. The law’s goal to make
affordable health insurance coverage available to 32 million Americans
who are currently uninsured is not only laudable, but necessary to
control the nation’s health care spending.
PPACA positively affects the physician assistant profession in the following ways:
· Recognizes the integral role of PAs in providing patient-centered, team-based primary medical care
·
Supports the educational preparation of PAs who intend to provide
primary care services in rural and underserved communities
·
Fully integrates PAs into newly established models of coordinated care,
such as the patient centered primary care medical home and the
independence at home models of care
· Creates a Medicare
bonus for select primary care codes furnished by PAs, and other primary
care providers, for whom at least 60% of services provided are
determined to be primary care
· Recognizes the critical role of PAs in the health care workforce.
The
AAPA is not an advocate for any specific structure of health care
reform or financing for reform efforts. AAPA supports access to quality,
affordable, cost-effective care for all Americans, with the expanded
use of primary medical care; an emphasis on health promotion and disease
prevention; the use of comparative-effectiveness research; and a
payment mechanism that is portable and sustainable for individuals,
families and society.
AAPA is committed to achieving these goals
and to working with Congress and the Administration to retain the many
positive provisions enacted through the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act. The Academy encourages Congress to continuously
improve, but not dismantle, efforts to achieve meaningful health care
reform.
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