News
Official Publication of the California Academy of Physician Assistants
November/December 2014
\The Magazine
The Legislative Year in Review by Teresa Anderson, MPH; Public Policy Director
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s the 2013-14 legislative session comes to an end, it brings about many changes to the health care delivery system in California. Most of the bills passed during the 201314 legislative session, except urgency bills or bills with a delayed implementation date, will become effective January 1, 2015. First, we want to THANK each and every CAPA member who helped make the passage of SB 1083 Physician Assistants: Disability Certification a reality. Every bill has unique challenges and this one was no different. This was not CAPA’s first attempt to remove this practice barrier, which prohibits PAs
from certifying a claim for short term disability. In 2010, this issue was part of a larger bill but it was amended out of the bill due to opposition and significant associated costs. This time around we were able to remove policy concerns, but still had to deal with significant associated costs. The Employment Development Department’s fiscal analysis attached $4.6 million dollars to the bill, the largest amount of money a chaptered CAPA sponsored bill has ever had. Typically, that cost would be considered a “bill killer,” but we NEVER gave up. We met with the Employment Development Department (EDD) and began to work on clarifying amendments and strategies to reduce the cost of the bill. Through the amendment process, we were asked to accept an amendment that allowed for delayed implementation so the EDD could
have the time they need – given the massive systemic changes they are going through – to upgrade their system and add PAs as a provider. All the parties involved agreed to a delayed implementation date of on OR BEFORE January 1, 2017. We are hopeful that it will be sooner rather than later, but we assure you that we will keep you informed every step of the way. Some of the other bills chaptered this session that are relevant to PA practice include: AB 375 – Medi-Cal Children’s Health Advisory Panel Renames the Healthy Families Advisory Board to the Children’s Health Advisory Board (CHAB) and transfers the panel’s advisory and reporting capacity Continued on page 5
President’s State of the Academy by Jeremy A. Adler, MS, PA-C; President
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he excitement and momentum in our PA profession is contagious. Although I have said for years that it is a great time to be a PA, that statement is even truer today. The recent, independent, Harris Poll released in October 2014 reports that 93% of respondents agree that PAs are part of the solution to address the shortage of
health care providers in the United States and that PAs are trusted providers. The Harris Poll reported that over 90% of respondents indicated that PAs provide quality health care and improve health outcomes for patients. We as PAs knew this already, but it is great to hear these results from an independent source.
As part of the California Academy of Physician Assistant’s 38th Annual Conference in Palm Springs, I provided a State of the Academy address to hundreds of attendees. In this publication, I would like to extend highlights of this address to our entire membership and other stakeholders. Continued on page 4