Letter to the EDD

[Hemegroup]

To Whom It May Concern,

 

I am a Physician Assistant currently working in the Inland Empire region of California. I am writing with an official complaint regarding your EDD policy of not designating Physician Assistants capable of deciding and declaring disability allowances.

 

Physician Assistant (PA) training is much more similar to those of Physicians, certainly more so than Nurse Practitioners who are by the EDD for some reason designated as capable of deciding and declaring disability allowances. Federally mandated didactic hours for Physicians are 2300 and those for Physician Assistants are 2000. PA educational curriculum has been and continues to be overseen by representatives of both Physician Assistant and Physician organizations, including the American College of Surgeons and Academy of Pediatrics to name only two. Doctors are an inherent part of medical lecturing as well as rotations and residencies for PAs. Nurse Practitioner educational accreditation involves not one Physician.

 

I ran into this paperwork issue a few months ago with a patient who I had treated for debilitating anxiety. I was the sole provider who managed this patient’s psychiatric care, including a significant change in medication regimen which worked out greatly for the benefit of the patient. Yet I was also for some bizarre reason not allowed to manage his EDD paperwork. The unintelligent irony of this is staggering.

 

What struck me today and is behind my writing this letter, is that we as Physician Assistants have the legal authority to override the potential decision of Jehovah’s Witness parents to prevent a child from obtaining a blood transfusion in light of life-threatening emergency. We also in California have the allowance to perform surgery, under the regulations of the Supervising Surgeon. Yet for some reason, your EDD seems to indicate that we do not have the ability to fill out employment disability paperwork.

 

There is nothing more to be said about this matter and I hope that you work to resolve it appropriately.

 

I'm posting this in the Professional section primarily because I am unsure about the designations in other states.

[Gordon, PA-C]

I'm posting this in the Professional section primarily because I am unsure about the designations in other states.

 

 

Sounds good man... good luck

 

Although I never understand anybody who wants to do disability work. I've seen several places that "specialize" in disability and the best I can figure at least 75% of the patients are either exagerrating their symptoms or just making it up completely in order to get "free" money.

 

Dealing with disability all day is just slightly more appealing than seeing chronic pain patients all day who demand high doses of narcs. No thanks!

[Joelseff]

Sounds good man... good luck

 

Although I never understand anybody who wants to do disability work. I've seen several places that "specialize" in disability and the best I can figure at least 75% of the patients are either exagerrating their symptoms or just making it up completely in order to get "free" money.

 

Dealing with disability all day is just slightly more appealing than seeing chronic pain patients all day who demand high doses of narcs. No thanks!

 

Who says anything about disability work? We see this in Primary Care.

 

I am in FP and I deal with this crap. Im the one who took the pt off work but have to have my SP sign the EDD form. NPs have their own form and they even allow chaplains to fill them out but not a medical practitioner who made the decision to take the pt out? Ridiculous.

 

Heme I'm writing one too. Maybe PAFT can help us.

 

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[EMEDPA]

Sounds good man... good luck

 

Although I never understand anybody who wants to do disability work. I've seen several places that "specialize" in disability and the best I can figure at least 75% of the patients are either exagerrating their symptoms or just making it up completely in order to get "free" money.

 

Dealing with disability all day is just slightly more appealing than seeing chronic pain patients all day who demand high doses of narcs. No thanks!

don't you work in occ. med?

[Joelseff]

I wrote them too:

 

"To whom it may concern:

I am a Physician Assistant (PA) licensed to practice medicine in California and was amazed to find that I am denied by the EDD, the ability to certify a patient for disability benefits. You allow Nurse Practitioners but not PAs and in California, though we have the same scopes of practice. Why?

I am curious to see what is your criteria for allowing certain providers this ability. I function, for all intents and purposes, close to the scope of a Physician and at the very least, on par with the scope of practice of a NP. I write medical certificates for my patients to take time off of work or school, I certify disabled persons for disabled placards yet according to you, I cannot certify a patient as disabled? Is this due to some prejudice against PAs (I hope not) or perhaps, merely not enough information and ignorance about our profession. If it is the latter, please contact me and I can guide you to resources that can contribute to your edification. If it is the former, then I see this as a major problem to the delivery of healthcare to the people of this state and a disservice to the patient.

I respectfully request you allow PAs to be accepted as authorized providers to certify disability patients."

 

 

hopefully more PAs in California can join us or out of state PAs can write a statement of support. I think though this has to go to CAPA and according to an email I got last year, they had SB1069 go to the hill in 2011 that wold have gotten us this privilege but it died though we were able to order DME...

 

There are other things too in California that gets me riled up like the inability to sign for home nursing orders. Whats up with that??!?

[Hemegroup]

My letter goes out to the California EDD tomorrow, thank you so much for your help and support Joelseff and PAFT.

[EMEDPA]

forwarding joelseff's letter to paft board.

-e

[Joelseff]

So here is their lame response:

 

Thank you for submitting your information to the Employment DevelopmentDepartment on 3/4/2013 at 11:13 AM.

 

Category:

Disability Insurance Benefits

 

Do NOT respond to this message through email. If you need additional information or assistance regarding this matter, contact us through the Ask EDD Web site.

You wrote us the following:

To whom it may concern: I am a Physician Assistant (PA) licensed to practice medicine in California and was amazed to find that I am denied by the EDD, the ability to certify a patient for disability benefits. You allow Nurse Practitioners but not PAs and in California, though we have the same scopes of practice. Why? I am curious to see what is your criteria for allowing certain providers this ability. I function, for all intents and purposes, close to the scope of a Physician and at the very least, on par with the scope of practice of a NP. I write medical certificates for my patients to take time off of work or school, I certify disabled persons for disabled placards yet according to you, I cannot certify a patient as disabled? Is this due to some prejudice against PAs (I hope not) or perhaps, merely not enough information and ignorance about our profession. If it is the latter, please contact me and I can guide you to resources that can contribute to your edification. If it is the former, then I see this as a major problem to the delivery of healthcare to the people of this state and a disservice to the patient. I respectfully request you allow PAs to be accepted as authorized providers to certify disability patients. Sincerely, Joelseff, PA-C Family and HIV Medicine

 

Here is our reply:

A licensed medical practitioner must certify State Disability Insurance (SDI) claims. Certification may be provided by a licensed medical or osteopathic physician and surgeon, chiropractor, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, designated psychologist, or authorized medical officer of a United States Government facility. A licensed nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner or licensed midwife may certify for disabilities related only to normal pregnancy or childbirth. If you are living outside of the United States, please attach a copy of your physician's medical license to your "Claim For SDI Benefits," DE2501, "Physician's Supplemental Certification," DE2525X, or "Request for Additional Medical Information, DE2543. This will speed up the process involved in verifying your physician's medical license. A proxy completing the medical documentation at the request of a physician and using the physician's medical license may be able to certify; for example: a large medical facility where all claim documents are completed in a central location. If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact SDI at (800) 480 3287.

 

 

 

looks like a robotic response. I guess NPs can only certify pregnancy related disability? but according to the NP form from the EDD it states:

 

"Nurse Practitioners certifying State Disability Insurance claims for a disability other than normal pregnancy or childbirth must comply with Section 2835.7 of the Business and Professions Code (BPC) and with Section 2708 of the California Unemployment Insurance Code (CUIC). In order to determine the above named claimant’s eligibility for benefits, the certifying Nurse Practitioner must complete and sign the following statement."

 

Whenever I feel like sitting on hold for a hella long time, I will call them though I don't think that would get anywhere. I really think CAPA has to take this on....again...

 

Joe