Governmental Affairs Issue Update
By: Mark DeSantis, PA-C, Chairman, Governmental Affairs
House Bills 1999 & 2051 have passed the house by a unanimous vote. They are now in the senate professional licensure committee. As outlined in the last issue of the PSPA News, these bills will expand our scope of practice on both the allopathic and osteopathic sides. At this point, we are encouraging everyone who lives in a district with a REPUBLICAN PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR, to write to them encouraging them to move the house bills out of committee to the senate floor for a vote.
Our proposed osteopathic prescribing regulations continue to be reviewed and amended at the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine. We have been attempting to keep the regulation language exactly the same as on the allopathic side to avoid confusion and create parity. One problem has been with schedule II prescribing. The osteopathic board wishes to mandate that the patient be examined by the physician after the first 30 days on a narcotic to determine/confirm the need for continued narcotic therapy. The PSPA along with the Medical Society and the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania presented to the Board, arguments to keep the regulations the same. Those efforts were unsuccessful. Overall, the differences between the two regulations will be minimal. We will continue to keep you updated as they proceed.