New Health Care Reform Bill Recognizes PAs
In a move that gets the ball rolling for health care reform, Montana Sen. Max Baucus has released America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009. While the bill is not yet complete, it contains several provisions in favor of physician assistants:
The bill treats physicians, PAs, and NPs very similarly in the new patient models of care, including funding for “physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant-led home-based primary care programs with demonstrated expertise in serving high-cost beneficiaries with multiple chronic illnesses and functional disabilities.” The bill recognizes PAs in incentives for chronic care management bonuses in Medicare Advantage; fully integrates PAs in new patient care models; and makes PAs eligible for primary care provider bonuses. Additionally, the bill amends the Medicare statute to allow PAs to order skilled nursing facility care and to provide hospice care for Medicare beneficiaries.
Read more from AAPA here.