PAs Urge Legislature to Join Governor’s Support of Modernizing the Profession
Over the last several years, there has been an important battle focused on closing New York’s healthcare gaps and modernizing PA practice law taking place in the halls of the State Capitol.
As patient demand rises and provider shortages worsen, the case for modernization is urgent and we are grateful to have a governor who acknowledges this crisis. By including language in her last four executive budget proposals, Governor Hochul recognizes the importance of PA’s to our state’s healthcare system and the urgent need to support efforts to recruit and retain.
PAs are medical providers who deliver preventive care, diagnose and treat illness, manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and often serve as patients’ principal healthcare providers. PAs practice across primary care, surgery, critical care, rural health, hospice, telehealth, palliative medicine, and mental health – providing high-quality care with outcomes comparable to physicians and playing a vital role in expanding access statewide.
The governor’s budget language would remove outdated administrative barriers so that PA’s can better serve patients, at a time where this improvement in service is sorely needed.
In the coming years, 1 in 5 physicians and 2 in 5 nurses plan to leave the healthcare workforce. Meanwhile, the PA profession – known for high-quality, cost-effective care – continues to grow.
The workforce reality makes this need for modernization even more pressing. PAs expand access, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes, and public support reflects this. Ninety percent of adults say PAs improve the quality of healthcare and 91% support updating PA practice laws.
Let’s be clear: PAs have never called for “independent practice” or “scope expansion.” PAs work autonomously and remain deeply committed to team-based care. What this bill does is ensure that decisions about how PAs practice are made at the practice level, not dictated by rigid state laws.
New York can no longer afford to underutilize more than 24,000 PAs because of outdated administrative rules. We are grateful to have a partner in the governor who is willing to step up ensure New Yorkers are receiving the highest quality healthcare from high quality healthcare professionals. We look forward to continuing to work with the governor and legislative leaders to get this critical initiative across the finish line in the final enacted state budget.
Learn more at pasforpatients.org.
Maureen Regan, MBA, PA-C, FACHE, DFAAPA, is President of the New York State Society of PA.
