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Committee hears PA compact bill to ease cross‑state practice; supporters cite access and data sharing
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Summary
House Bill 183 would adopt the interstate PA licensure compact. Supporters said the compact improves access to care, telehealth and regulator cooperation; informational witnesses said 13 states have enacted the compact and it has met the activation threshold.
Representative Jodie Etchart opened a hearing on House Bill 183, asking the committee to consider joining the interstate physician assistant compact that would allow PAs licensed in a member state to obtain a compact privilege to practice in other member states.
Etchart said compacts lower licensure friction for mobile clinicians and cited a hypothetical military spouse with an out‑of‑state PA license who could practice more quickly under the compact. “It decreases some of the burden on the Department of Labor and Industry,” she said, describing portability as a way to expand care in rural and underserved areas.
Proponents included Jennifer Hensley of the Montana Academy of Physician Assistants, Stacy Anderson of the Montana Primary Care Association, Heather O’Hara of the Montana Hospital Association and Megan Pudler of the American Academy of PAs. Pudler described the PA compact as a “mutual recognition model of interstate practice,” saying it “strengthens access to PA services and the use of telehealth” and does not change scope of practice in member states.
Carl Sims of the Council of State Governments’ National Center for Interstate Compacts testified as an informational witness that the compact has a shared data system to communicate adverse actions among member states and that the compact commission can levy assessments but such assessments are uncommon. Sims said the PA compact has reached 13 member states and that the commission is meeting to begin operations.
Kevin Bragg of the Department of Labor and Industry answered administrative questions about how the state would track compact privileges and said some compacts allow jurisprudence requirements or similar steps to confirm a practitioner meets Montana requirements. He said commissions can impose fees and that a compact’s shared data system helps states learn about adverse actions before privileges are granted.
Etchart told the committee the fiscal note on HB 183 was zero. The hearing closed with no formal committee vote recorded.
