A CALL TO ACTION FOR YOUR PROFESSION!
As we all know, advocacy for the PA Profession in Ohio is an ongoing process. OAPA, with the assistance of all of you and AAPA, recently persuaded the Ohio General Assembly to grant the profession prescriptive privileges and eliminate the restrictive new patient, new condition law finally leveling the playing field with the APNs in SB154.
But, if you were thinking our work was finished when the Governor signed the bill, you would be wrong.
OAPA then lobbied the State Medical Board for rules that were fair and would allow PAs to practice as the law intended. We actively review all medical-related legislation and makes sure that PAs are included when appropriate and that your scope of practice is not compromised. OAPA is the first and last line of defense when other health care providers seek an unfair advantage in the market place. Advocacy is an ongoing process.
PAs are once again facing a critical challenge. Right now the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) is updating the rules that govern Medicaid reimbursement practices in Ohio. The current rules do not recognize the fact that the PA laws have changed! They need to be rewritten to be consistent with the new practice law.
OAPA approached ODJFS over a year ago to begin the process. The agency deferred proposing new rules until now and recently released rules that are totally unacceptable. They give an unfair advantage to APNs in the areas of reimbursement, consultation, hospital admissions and discharges and assisting in surgery.
OAPA met with representatives of ODJFS who seemed unwilling to modify the proposed rules to put PAs on par with APNs. These rules will have a public hearing and eventually go back to a committee made up of State Senators and Representatives.
Representative Wachtmann (the sponsor of the PA bill when he was a Senator) supports PAs and rightfully shares our concerns with the ODJFS rules. OAPA will need his support, and that of other legislators, to convince ODJFS to rewrite the rules to reflect the intent of the law.
OAPA once again needs your financial support for this effort. The association's Political Action Committee (PAC) was depleted during the PA law effort and needs to be replenished.
Please help OAPA by contributing to the OAPA-PAC either by credit card using the registration link below or by check to OAPA-PAC, 579 High Street, Worthington, OH 43085.
We not only need your support for the PAC but you will be called upon to contact your legislators and perhaps testify at the public hearing to speak up for your profession.
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