Prepared by Jason Prevelige, DMSc, MBA, PA-C, Legislative Committee Chair
This year was a very busy one for the legislative team at ConnAPA. There were many hot topics at the capital in the healthcare sphere including private equity, Medicaid reimbursement and the healthcare workforce. ConnAPA representation was present every step of the way, ensuring that the PA voice was heard in Hartford.
Work on this legislative session began well before the January kick off however. There were meetings throughout the late summer, fall and early winter of 2024 to continue to engage stakeholders on the priorities for PAs. Those priorities included continued modernization of statutes that PAs abide by, including the removal of restrictive supervisory language and other administrative burdens that take away from the ability to provide care; title change from physician assistant to physician associate to reflect the adopted name of ConnAPA following the decision by the AAPA House of Delegates in 2021 to change the name of the profession; implementation of the PA Compact which has been discussed since it was introduced in the winter of 2023.
Throughout the session representatives from ConnAPA testified on a number of bills that had implications for PAs on topics that included:
- The budget for HAVEN
- Certifying patients for substance use disorder treatment
- Medicaid rates
- PA Compact
- Inclusion of PAs as mental health providers
- Inclusion of PAs regarding student loan and tuition repayment programs
- Generally ensuring that PA are included in various statutes that include physicians and APRNs
- Private equity and ensuring that PAs clinical decisions are not affected by business
- Naturopaths and their request to prescribe medication
The most significant achievement of this legislative session was the passage of the PA Compact in Public Act 25-168, signed into law on June 24th, making Connecticut the 18th state to enact the Compact. The Compact when enabled, will allow acknowledgement of an existing license in another Compact state, which will decrease the need to hold multiple licenses. Also in this same bill were provisions that eliminate the fee for PA licensure in Connecticut.
Passage of the Compact took many conversations by the Legislative Committee and our lobbyist Linda Kowalski and her team. There was significant effort by the co-chairs and members of the Public Health Committee of the legislature to ensure that it made it through the hurdles that popped up. At ConnAPA’s 50th Anniversary Celebration on June 14th, President Cayla Daniele acknowledged the efforts made by House co-chair, Rep. Cristin McCarthy-Vahey with a Certificate of Appreciation for all of her support and effort to improve the health of Connecticut’s patients.
We thank Linda Kowalksi, David Boomer, Brad Weeks and the other members of the lobbying team at Rome, Smith, Kowalski for all of their great work this year. Please find further details of the session in the report by Linda. We look forward to another successful year for patients in the 2026 session.