Ahead of national physician assistant (PA) week, Oct. 6-12, several House members introduced a bipartisan, four-bill package including PA’s under the blanket of mental health professionals and changing their title to “physician associate.”

The bills, sponsored by Reps. Carrie A. Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor), Donavan McKinney (D-Detroit), Reggie Miller (D-Belleville) and Curtis VanderWall (R-Ludington), create the “Patient-Led Care Bill Package,” which Rheingans said will improve patient access to care, “while also reducing some of the red tape that’s standing in the way of physician assistants.”

Rheingans’ bill, which she said was read in this afternoon, would address the 3.5 million Michiganders living in a health provider shortage area, including the 38% of Michiganders who experience a mental illness and have an unmet treatment need.

“Since we know patients deserve the highest quality of care from professionals who are trained to provide it, we’re here trying to address this gap,” she said. “Sometimes, outdated laws on the books get in the way of people’s ability to provide that care.”

Her bill would amend the mental health code to include PAs and nurse practitioners under the definition of mental health professionals, allowing an additional 7,400 practicing PAs to treat patients with mental health concerns, Rheingans said.

She said approximately one in five of them are in primary care settings, with around 550 new PAs trained and licensed in Michigan each year.

Those PAs undergo 6,000 hours of post-graduate clinical experience, and are educated and trained in behavioral health and psychiatric medicine, Rheingans said, but are unable to help with mental health treatment needs because they’re not currently recognized by the state.

McKinney’s bill similarly addresses the shortage of providers, he said, by eliminating the ban on PAs to delegate and supervise medical assistants (MA), which he said would improve clinical efficiencies and release physicians from liability when they are not supervising.

Miller did not speak about the health provider shortage, but said her bill would recognize PAs for all the work they do by updating their title from physician’s assistant to physician associate.

“The way we receive and deliver health care has changed, and today, PAs do far more than just assist physicians,” Miller said, “It’s time we recognize that.”

Ashley Malliett, president of the Michigan Academy of Physician Assistants, said though the substitute of one word doesn’t seem all that significant, the title of “assistant” can be invalidating for PAs and can erode patient trust.

She said patients would often rather see the physician than the “assistant,” despite PAs having extensive training and experience.

VanderWall’s bill, which he said has been nearly five years in the making, would include Michigan in the PA interstate licensure compact, which he said would allow members to practice across state lines more easily.

The bill is a reintroduction from Vanderwall’s time in the Senate, where it passed unanimously in 2021 but stalled in the House.

The package was immediately opposed by the Michigan State Medical Society.

CEO Tom George, also a former state Senator and former Senate Health Policy Committee chair, said he believes the legislation will create confusion and cloud the medical transparency that patients rely on.

“Focusing on changing titles and conflating roles within the health care team, as this legislation does, is not in the best interest of patients, their care or their overall health,” George said. “Patients expect and deserve better.”

When asked about the opposition, Rheingans said sponsors don’t have the goal of getting every group on board.

“In the health care space, anything you could do that could potentially help patients sometimes ruffles the feathers of some professional group,” she said. “Sometimes, you just have to focus on what’s best for patients… I think even if they become neutral or stay opposed, in the end, this is what’s best for patients.”

VanderWall was asked if he believes the bills will survive Gov. Gretchen Whitmer veto pen, after she nixed similar legislation in the past.

He responded that the governor’s goal is to grow Michigan’s population, “and we can only grow Michigan’s population by having a solid health care system.”

When asked about the timeline for the package to move through the House, Rheingans said conversations with the House Health Policy Chair Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) have revealed a full docket, but sponsors are hoping to get a slot sometime this calendar year.

She added that with bipartisan support, the package could also be a strong election year issue.

This story courtesy of MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.