From the AAPA

				Using the search form

To view this article in PDF form, click here.

Increased PA ownership interest under Medicare

By Michael Powe, director, health systems & reimbursement policy

AAPA has initiated a lobbying effort aimed at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow physician assistants to own 100% of a corporation that is eligible to bill Medicare. Presently, physician assistants may own up to 99% of an eligible corporation, as allowed by state law. A non-PA must own at least 1% of the corporation.

AAPA believes that there is no rational reason to prohibit PAs from having a 100% ownership interest in a Medicare-eligible corporation or similar entity. This lobbying effort is an attempt to create a more level playing field for PAs, as compared to other health care professionals, and to allow for greater flexibility in the manner that physicians, hospitals, and other health care organizations utilize physician assistants. Existing law does not allow a physician assistant, as an individual, to directly bill the Medicare program.

On March 25, AAPA federal affairs and reimbursement staff met with a staff member from the office of US Representative Don Young (D-Ark) to request support for a Medicare policy change. Young will send a letter to CMS to question why the agency opposes allowing 100% PA ownership.

Medicare rules have allowed physician assistants to maintain a 99% ownership interest in a corporate entity since 2003. This has resulted in increased access to care for Medicare beneficiaries, especially in rural and underserved parts of the country.

AAPA data show experience a factor in PA income

By Christopher Doscher, news editor, AAPA News

An analysis of data from the 2007 AAPA Physician Assistant Census found that more years of health care experience involving direct patient contact prior to entering PA school resulted in higher income during the first 5 years of practice as a PA. AAPA staff from the division of data services and statistics reached the conclusion after reviewing results of multiple regression analyses using data from PAs who graduated between 2002 and 2006. The regression analyses, which included data from the 2007 Census and the New PA Student Census Surveys, found that “years of prior health care experience with direct patient contact, and having a master’s degree prior to PA school were both significantly and positively associated with income.” The analysis also found that the total income for those who earned a master’s degree in PA studies was not significantly different from the total income for those who earned a bachelor’s degree.

Some PA programs require their applicants to have health care experience prior to entering the program. Others do not. PA Stephanie Bowlin, who is dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, said that while her program does not require health care experience in order to gain admission, roughly half of the students in a typical class have nevertheless worked in health care jobs. Often, Bowlin noted, students who do not have a professional health care background score higher on tests than students with prior health care experience, as students with experience tend to fall back on what they learned on the job.

PA Michael Huckabee, director of the Union College PA Program in Lincoln, Nebraska, said Union students are required to have at least 480 hours of health care experience to be admitted. That experience does not need to be formal employment and can be gained through volunteer work or by shadowing a PA—another requirement for admission. At Union, students who have prior experience have usually worked as EMTs, nurses, or nurses’ aides, Huckabee said. The experience often is demonstrated more through a student’s level of maturity and professionalism than through advanced knowledge, he said. “Those factors might be where the salary differential comes from,” he said.

Tell AAPA your CME needs

Help set the course for AAPA’s future CME offerings. Log on now to participate in AAPA’s new Web-based CME needs assessment and to help ensure that AAPA continues to offer the CME that PAs need the most.

To take the 10-minute survey, go to the AAPA Web site, www.aapa.org, and click on the CME Needs Assessment Survey under What’s New. The survey will help AAPA design future CME programs to help you gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for high quality practice. The survey will assess preferred learning styles and modalities as well as perceived needs related to the Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession.

INFORMATION ON UPCOMING CME EVENTS
For the most up-to-date list of CME opportunities, visit the AAPA Web site at www.aapa.org/cme/approvedcat1.htm