AAPA welcomes Senate Finance Committee's vote to approve the America's Healthy Future Act

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), representing 75,000 clinically practicing physician assistants (PAs) in the United States, applauds the Senate Finance Committee's vote to approve the America's Healthy Future Act. AAPA is committed to seeking health care reform legislation that provides the American people with access to quality, affordable, cost-effective health care.

"Physician assistants are inherently dedicated to increasing the reach of medicine to those most in need by extending the ability of physicians to provide quality medical care to more patients at one time," said AAPA President Stephen Hanson. "Legislation that will take advantage of all medical providers to make the provision of health care services easier and more cost-effective is imperative to meeting the health care needs of the American people."

AAPA is working to ensure that the merged Senate bill includes the Finance Committee provisions to fully integrate PAs into new models of care, recognize PAs in incentives for chronic care management bonuses, make PAs eligible for primary care provider bonuses, and amend Medicare to allow PAs to order skilled nursing facility care and to provide hospice care.

AAPA will also work to see that the bill includes the HELP Committee's positive provisions for PAs, including a 15 percent carve out for PA educational programs in the bill's reauthorization of the Title VII, Public Health Service Act's training cluster on primary care medicine.

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) is the only national professional association that represents PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the armed forces and federal services. Founded in 1968, AAPA works to increase the professional and personal growth of the entire PA workforce by providing comprehensive support and advocacy for physician assistants so that they may, in turn, provide patients with increased access to quality, cost-effective health care. Learn more at www.aapa.org.