AAPA joins national effort to seek affordable health care

Divided We Fail is a nonpartisan movement committed to amplifying the voices of those who believe that health care and long-term financial security are the most pressing issues facing the nation. In January, AAPA became a supporter of the initiative, which is being led by AARP, the Business Roundtable, and the Service Employees International Union.

The alliance includes a broad range of consumer, corporate, and health care organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Geriatric Society, American College of Preventive Medicine, National Rural Health Association, National Council on Aging, Consumer Federation of America, and National Federation of Independent Businesses. “By uniting behind Divided We Fail, we can work for a common cause: breaking through the partisan stalemate and getting our political ‘leaders' to actually lead,” stated AARP CEO Bill Novelli.

Divided We Fail does not support a particular candidate, party, or health care reform package. It is committed to getting elected officials to work “in a bipartisan way to provide Americans with actions and answers on health and lifetime financial security,” according to the initiative's Web site. To learn more, visit the Divided We Fail Web site at www.dividedwefail.org.

Veterans Affairs' PA bill gets favorable hearing

By Sandra Harding, director, federal affairs

A bill to establish a full-time director of PA services in the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Central Office, a change for which AAPA has long advocated, was the subject of a hearing conducted January 17 by the US House of Representatives VA Subcommittee on Health. The legislation was one of eight veterans' health bills considered by the subcommittee, which is chaired by Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine).

In a written statement for the hearing record, AAPA stated: “Enactment of HR 2790 is essential to improving patient care for our nation's veterans, ensuring that the 1,600 PAs employed by the VA are fully utilized, and removing unnecessary restrictions on the ability of PAs to provide medical care in VA facilities.” The Academy also said that enactment of the bill is necessary to advance recruitment and retention of PAs within the Department of Veterans Affairs. “The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. News & World Report, and Money magazine all speak to the growth, demand, and value of the PA profession. The challenge for the VA is that the growth and demand for PAs is in the private sector, not the VA,” the statement said.

Testifying in support of HR 2790, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), supported AAPA's testimony, saying, “One of the biggest challenges facing current and future PAs in the VA system is their exclusion from any recruitment and retention effort or benefit. The VA designates physicians and nurses as critical occupations, and so priority in scholarships and loan repayment programs goes to those critical occupations. However, the PA profession has not been determined to be a critical occupation at the VA, despite the fact that the VA has determined PAs and NPs functionally interchangeable and that they perform equal work.”

Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), an original cosponsor of the PA legislation, also testified in favor of the bill. A legislator who represents a rural district and has long been involved in the development of federal health legislation, he spoke of the value of PAs in providing medical care in rural and other medically underserved communities. Citing decisions by the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and others to establish a director of PA services within their institutions, Rep. Moran asserted that the VA should do the same.

Webcasts approved for Category I CME credit

Six Webcasts from AAPA's 35th Annual PA Conference have been converted to Category I CME credit. They will be available for viewing through June 30. CME credit is provided at no charge to AAPA fellow members. The Webcast topics include allergic rhinitis (2 sessions), GERD (2 sessions), Type 2 diabetes, and menstrual migraine. Visit www.aapa.org/cme/hsprogs.html#ACW to view the Webcasts.