In any case, the CMA's website has stated in their July 22 legislative update that both AB 783 and SB 924 (PT direct access) are on the top of their agenda once the legislative summer recess ends on August 15. All bills that are going to be passed will need to be through the legislative process by September 9. So it should be a busy end of the summer. It will be interesting to see what happens as the CMA and PTBCA continue to duke it out.
For those interested, the CMA verbiage regarding these two bills is listed below.
AB 783 (Hayashi) is the technical fix that codifies into law the longstanding practice that allows for medical corporations to hire certain allied health practitioners, most notably physical therapists. Thought the bill received zero “no” votes in the Assembly, it did not receive the votes to pass out of Senate Business & Professions (B&P) Committee. After the failure of SB 924 (Walters), a bill that would have allowed physical therapists direct access to patients without a prior diagnosis, Senate B&P tried to take another bite at the apple by asking for AB 783to be amended to include direct access in order to receive the support of the Chair, Senator Curren Price. The committee heard testimony from all of the providers in support of the bill, and hundreds of physical therapists asking to keep their jobs. The California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA) testified in opposition, arguing that this bill brought a competitive disadvantage to physical therapy small business owners. An equal number of physical therapists testified in opposition as well. The discussion quickly disintegrated into a debate about direct access, with the CPTA arguing that it would it was necessary to equalize competition. Senators Correa, Vargas and Wyland all voted in favor of AB 783 and spoke to remind the committee that the bill before them was not about scope of practice, but was closing a loophole in corporate code. Still, the bill was 2 votes shy and failed to pass out of committee.
