Moderator ventana Posted November 29, 2013 Moderator Share Posted November 29, 2013 From: "Heather Trafton, PA-C, MAPA Legislative Chair" <hatrafton@gmail.com>To: Jeff Kellogg <jeffreykellogg@yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 10:40 AMSubject: MAPA Action Alert: Include PAs as Primary Care Clinicians ACTION ALERT: FROM: Heather Trafton, Legislative Chair, MAPA SUBJECT: Submit Your Comments TODAY to Ensure PAs are included as Primary Care Clinicians! ____________________________________________________________________________ We encourage ALL to submit comments urging that PAs be added to the proposed regulations by 5:00 onTuesday, December 3rd. It has come to our attention that the Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Health and Human Services has issued proposed regulations implementing the categorical requirements for MassHealth programs authorized by the Affordable Care Act. The regulation amends the list of eligible healthcare providers considered Primary Care Clinicians participating in a Primary Care Clinician Plan, and PAs are excluded from this list. As you know, Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, recognized Physician Assistants as primary care providers in Massachusetts. These proposed regulations threaten this progress by continuing to exclude PAs from applying to become Primary Care Clinician providers through MassHealth. The proposed regulation can be found at the link below: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/masshealth/proposed-regs/130-cmr-450-000.pdf ACTION STEPS: A public hearing on this proposed regulation is scheduled for Monday, December 2 at 10:00 AM in the Worcester Public Library at 3 Salem Square in Worcester, Massachusetts. If you are interested in testifying against this proposed regulation in person, please let us know. Even if you are unable to attend the hearing, please consider submitting written comments urging EOHHS to amend these regulations to include physician assistants. Submissions will be accepted until 5:00 PM on Tuesday, December 3rd. Electronic testimonies should be emailed to ehs-regulations@state.ma.us. If you are unable to submit an electronic testimony, please mail the document to: EHS/MassHealth Publications 100 Hancock Street, 6th Floor Quincy, MA 02171 MAPA is happy to review or edit any draft testimony that you would like to share with us prior to the submission date. Please call or e-mail Kate Saville at 617-423-1177 orksaville@charlesgroupconsulting.com with any questions or to have your testimony reviewed. Please feel free to amend and utilize the below language in your written comments: The Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants strongly opposes the language of this amendment in 130 CMR 450.118 that specifically continues to exclude physician assistants from the list of eligible Primary Care Clinician (PCC) providers. Under the current and proposed regulation referred to above, PAs are not recognized as primary care clinicians and PCC Plan members must choose either a physician or nurse practitioner to be a PCC and MassHealth is billed as such. Physician assistants are explicitly excluded from the current and proposed regulation as possible candidates for serving as a patient’s PCC. The quality of care provided to MassHealth beneficiaries by physician assistants has and continues to be of the highest caliber and has never been in question. When healthcare cost containment legislation was debated and signed into law in 2012, it created Chapter 176S of the Massachusetts General Law which identifies physician assistants as eligible primary care providers. Furthermore, Massachusetts law states that PAs are primary care service providers whose scope of practice includes offering health services provided by a PCC as defined by MassHealth. Given the goals of the Affordable Care Act and the Commonwealth’s continued focus on the containment of health care costs it is clear that there is great need to effectively utilize midlevel practitioners towards the achievement of these goals of increasing access and reducing costs. MAPA urges MassHealth to amend the proposed regulations at 130 CMR 450.118 to include physician assistants on the list of recognized providers eligible to apply to become Primary Care Clinicians. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted November 29, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted November 29, 2013 I have cancelled my day Monday and will drive to Worcester and try to educate how silly this omission is PLEASE take a few minutes and write in supporting the inclusion of PAs as listed PCPs Some hx on this in the late 2000's NPs got law changed to be full PCPs Then in 2012 PAs got the same, but the MASSHEALTH regulations have not yet been updated so any paperwork for MASSHEALTH has to be signed by an NP or MD/DO - pure poppycock and truly an insult if it was done on purpose. However it is not on purpose, it is just that they are basing the update regs on the past regulations that have not yet been made compliant with the current laws PLEASE take a few minutes to write in. Can be as simple as saying you strongly support the inclusion of PAs as PCPs for MASSHEALTH and this is what MASS LAW has already established. More detailed emails would be great. ie how much of a PIA it is to chase around you SP signature, now it makes not sense to have someone that might have never seen the patient being the one signing the form, how PAs are a cost effective solution to the physician shortage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted November 29, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted November 29, 2013 bump.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just_nelle Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Just sent an email! Fired up about this issue, especially after a long day of hearing from all many of my patients that they were in the ER on a Saturday night for a chronic issue because "I can't get into my PCP for 2 weeks..." clearly we need more recognized PCPs! Thanks for bumping, ventana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicinePower Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I just send them the following email: To whom it may concern:I am not a PA, but some of the best medical care I have ever had has been by PAs. To take away their status as Primary Care Providers would be detrimental to all those who seek medical care. If anything PAs should be awarded doctorates and upgraded in their status as providers. They certainly are professionals and a pleasure to be a patient of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted December 2, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted December 2, 2013 Thanks!! I am just sitting down preparing what I am going to discus, highlight...... My first time doing this, but I feel if we all did things like this (grassroots advocacy) we would be a close to unstoppable force! Can others Please take the time to send in their comments - maybe those states with PAs are idenfied at PCPs to just write in and say that in state ____________ a PA is recognized as a PCP......... If the State of MASS sees that they are well behind all the other states I am sure this will make it easier to "follow the other states" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just_nelle Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Also, thanks for taking the time to attend the meeting in Worcester. Represent us well and give us an update, please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discogenic Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Thanks!! I am just sitting down preparing what I am going to discus, highlight...... My first time doing this, but I feel if we all did things like this (grassroots advocacy) we would be a close to unstoppable force! Can others Please take the time to send in their comments - maybe those states with PAs are idenfied at PCPs to just write in and say that in state ____________ a PA is recognized as a PCP......... If the State of MASS sees that they are well behind all the other states I am sure this will make it easier to "follow the other states" How did things go with this? (I might have missed the update if posted elsewhere.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyblu Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Oh no, I missed this! I usually get emails from Heather, not sure how this one got past me. I'm 30 minutes from Worcester, and would have gladly gone to participate in this important event. Ventana, how did it go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted December 16, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted December 16, 2013 went okay, I was the only one there representing PA's, everyone else was for acupuncturist. Funny thing is there was a medical emergency, and everybody was very happy to have a PA there. Far more powerful than anything I probably said. Strange how things work out. Now, just waiting to hear what the state does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKPAC Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Please let us know what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted December 20, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted December 20, 2013 will do, I have not heard any outcome yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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