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Sponsor seeks more physician-assistant seats on Board of Medical Examiners; association supports amendment
Summary
Representative Jody Etchart and representatives of physician assistants urged the committee to place three PAs on the Board of Medical Examiners; the Montana Academy of Physician Assistants opposed the bill as written but said it would support an amendment to add three PA seats.
Representative Jody Etchart told the Senate Business and Labor Committee she sought to add physician-assistant representation on the Board of Medical Examiners to reflect the growing PA workforce and the role PAs play in rural care. The proposal in House Bill 686 would add PA members to the board; Etchart said the sponsor and executive branch had worked toward an amendment to place three PAs on the board.
Why it matters: PAs have expanded practice in Montana and witnesses said including multiple PAs on a medical board improves rule-making input and judicatory panel representation where professional perspective matters.
Etchart described the history: after an initial, narrower proposal failed on the House floor she worked with stakeholders and the administration and said she "respectfully request[ed] your addition of the amendment on the bill" to add PA seats. She cited rural care needs and the rapid growth of the PA workforce in Montana.
Jennifer Hensley, representing the Montana Academy of Physician Assistants, said the association rose "in opposition to this bill as written. ... As soon as this amendment is placed, we are super cheerleaders." Hensley described a negotiated compromise intended to ensure multiple PA voices on the board and referenced other bills that affect board composition.
Megan Zawacki, an immediate past president of MTAPA and a practicing PA, also said the association opposed the bill as drafted but supported the amendment and called for adequate PA representation on rulemaking and disciplinary panels.
Sarah Swanson (Department of Labor and Industry) and Quinlan O'Connor (chief legal counsel, DLI) appeared as informational witnesses and said the department had been involved; committee members raised a technical question about how the board's total membership number will interact with a pending separate bill (Senate Bill 518) that removes emergency-care providers from the board. Etchart said the two measures would be coordinated so the final board size would be consistent once both bills reconcile.
Where it stands: Proponents and the PA association said they had reached agreement on an amendment that would place three physician assistants on the Board of Medical Examiners; the committee discussed technical crossbill coordination before acting.
Ending: The sponsor asked the committee to adopt the amendment and pass the bill with the new language; no vote was recorded at the hearing.
