HELENA — Republican Rep. Jodee Etchart of Billings is pushing several bills that would advocate for Montana’s physician assistants, which some supporters say would help address Montana’s provider shortage.
The first effort is to add physician assistants to House Bill 458, a bill limiting noneconomic damages payouts in malpractice cases to $300,000. That number would then increase by $50,000 each year until 2030.
Jean Branscum, CEO of the Montana Medical Association, supported the change at a committee hearing on Tuesday. She said before 2023, PAs could defer accusations to the physician they worked under. That changed when the 2023 Legislature passed a bill, also carried by Etchart, that classifies PAs as independent from their physicians.
“So now they're exposed in a different way than they were exposed before. So it's important that we add them to the definition to make sure that they also have access to this section of law,” Branscum said.
But opponent Al Smith of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association said existing insurance programs that help providers pay damages offer enough support.
”We do not think that there's been any demonstration that physician assistants need this cap protection. There's been no testimony regarding insurance rates for physician assistants,” Smith said.
Etchart, who works as a PA, is also carrying a bill that would create an interstate agreement that would allow licensed PAs to operate in all participating states. Stacey Anderson of the Montana Primary Care Association supported House Bill 183.
“It really gives us a leg up in terms of which states are we going to recruit from instead of sort of throwing everything at the wall in all 50 states and hoping something sticks,” Anderson said.
Niki Zupanic, also with the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, was the sole opponent of HB 183 at Tuesday’s hearing. She said she was reluctant but saw issues with the broad language used for protecting PAs against damages.
“ It is a small change, but it is important to us to make sure that this broad immunity doesn't become the standard for these compacts,” Zupanic said.
Etchart has another PA bill making its way to the Senate after passing the House unanimously. House Bill 143 would add PAs to the definition of a “treating physician.”
Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.
