[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 60 (Thursday, April 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S4433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
        Rockefeller, and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 909. A bill to provide for the review and classification of 
physician assistant positions in the Federal Government, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.


                     physician assistant equity act

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by 
Senators Nickles, Rockefeller, Inouye, and Harkin to introduce 
legislation that directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to 
develop a classification standard appropriate to the occupation of 
physician assistant.
  Physician assistants are a part of a growing field of health care 
professionals that make quality health care available and affordable in 
underserved areas throughout our country. Because the physician 
assistant profession was very young when OPM first developed employment 
criteria in 1970, the agency adapted the nursing classification system 
for physician assistants. Today, this is no longer appropriate. 
Physician assistants have different education and training requirements 
than nurses and they are licensed and evaluated according to different 
criteria.
  The inaccurate classification of physician assistants had led to 
recruitment and retention problems of physician assistants in federal 
agencies, usually caused by low starting salaries and low salary caps. 
Because it is recognized that physician assistants provide cost-
effective health care, this is an important problem to resolve.
  This legislation mandates that OPM review this classification in 
consultation with physician assistants and the organizations that 
represent physician assistants. The bill specifically states that OPM 
should consider the educational and practice qualifications of the 
position as well as the treatment of physician assistants in the 
private sector in this review.
  Mr. President, I believe that this legislation will make an important 
correction that will help federal agencies make better use of these 
providers of cost-effective, high quality health care.
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