Scope of Practice Proposal

MAKE YOUR COMMENTS NOW: Comment Period Only Open Until February 1

There are only two weeks left to submit comments on a Trump administration proposal that has an important effect on physicians' scope of practice. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has set February 1 as the deadline for responses.

The origin of the proposed changes is an Executive Order issued October 3 by President Trump . Section 5(a) proposes the elimination of supervision requirements and Section 5(c) orders the review of policies that make reimbursements different for non-physician practitioners. In a nutshell, the order would remove restrictions on scope of practice for non-physicians.

For more details, here is an analysis published by Health Leaders .

MAFP submitted a letter today on behalf of the Academy membership and AAFP submitted a letter earlier this week .

How to Take Action Now

CMS has made it easy to submit comments by creating a special e-mail address. : [email protected] . Below is sample language you can use:

I just want to reiterate what Dr. Cullen, AAFP board chair, stated in his letter dated 1/14/2020. I do not feel APPs should be encouraged to practice independently by CMS and reimbursed the same as physicians. As a Family Physician, my training is much more extensive than that of any APP, not to mention my years of practice, continuing education, and maintenance of certification.

We need to continue to support development of team based care led by Physicians, not fostering a system of lower tiered providers that are unsupervised and treated as equal. The quality and cost of the care delivered is best when delivered by a Physician lead team. Please do not implement regulations that would do otherwise.

MISSISSIPPI ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS

755 Avignon Drive, Ridgeland MS 39157

(601) 853-3302