Welcome To The VAPAA

New Legislative Page ... Click HERE to view this page!

Did you know?... As of January 31, 2009 there were 1,842 PAs in the VA system.

GREAT NEWS… Our bill was introduced by Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL) 3/4/09 into the House. The number is HR 1302. Here is what it looks like on Thomas:

H.R.1302
Title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the position of Director of Physician Assistant Services within the office of the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health.
Sponsor: Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] (introduced 3/4/2009) Cosponsors (8)
Latest Major Action: 3/4/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans'

For those of you that are not familiar with Thomas, check it out… www.thomas.gov. This is the official site of Congressional action and named after Thomas Jefferson. Check it out as the site is a wealth of information. To see the bill, you can look for it by number or you can check by the Representative. Look under Congressman Phil Hare and all the legislation that he has introduced this session is listed.

Now for the BETTER News...The Senate has introduced on May 21, 2009 the Senate version (S.B.1155) by Senator Collins (Maine) and an initial cosponsor of Senator Inouye (Hawaii). The two bills (Senate & House version) are basically the same. This now means that this is closer to reality. But without YOUR help it won't get done.

Now, please contact your local Congressman and Senator through the Thomas website and ask that person to please sign on as a cosponsor to the respective bills! We already have bipartisan support so no matter if your Representative/Senator is Republican or Democrat, please ask them to sign on. We have a SAMPLE of what you can tell them on this website for you to modify before sending. Please use it. Thanks.../s/Bob Kunath, President

Thank you for voting ... Your vote is your voice.

CAUTION : FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ALERT
DOT MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS

From the AAPA: Following the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (US Department of Transportation) 2006 announcement that it would be rolling out a plan to implement a national registry of certified medical examiners (NRCME), several companies have promoted business ventures to offer training to prospective medical examiners, including physician assistants. Most recently, a company called, NRCME Training Systems, LLC, led by a chiropractor, has been aggressively marketing its on-line training program to allow health care professionals to take training at home or the office. At this time, all of these training programs are premature. The DOT has not yet finalized the process for training and certifying medical examiners, and chapters are encouraged not to post information from companies claiming to offer the necessary training to become a certified medical examiner.”

New Official Corporate Office Address

Because we are incorporated in the Great State of Texas, we are obligated to have at least one "office" for official mailings in that state. Therefore the Board of Directors has determined that our new "official Texas" address will be:

VAPAA, Inc, 9022 Colfax Ridge, Helotes , Texas 78023

If you have any membership dues, questions or any other items you want answered, however, please continue to use our office address in the header of each page of the webpage. Your questions and interest in our organization are important to us and we want to respond to you as quickly as possible. All of the rest of our business is carried out through our Iron Mountain PO Box and sending your items anywhere else will only result in a delay or loss of the item. Thank you.

- Officers & Board of VAPAA

AJ Kent Memorial Scholarship Fund