Advocacy

Louisiana PAs are celebrating the enactment of a new law which removes an outdated requirement for prescriptive authority and increases the number of PAs with whom a physician may practice.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. 

Tennessee PAs are celebrating the enactment of SB 1515 (companion bill HB 2239) which was signed by Gov. Bill Haslam on April 2. The legislation changes the terminology used to describe the manner in which PAs and physicians practice together from "supervision" to "collaboration."

PA Khou Xiong’s patients experienced an interruption in care when the health center she works for unexpectedly lost its physician medical director. Read how modernizing PA-practice laws could improve the status quo for PA Xiong and PAs in similar situations across the country.

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.