AB 1000 Clears California Assembly Floor and Cited as Historic Compromise

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AB 1000 (Wieckowski) passed out of the Assembly on a 72-0 vote, sending the bill to the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee for its next stop.  AB 1000, sponsored by the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA), allows patients to directly access treatment by physical therapists without a physician diagnosis, which in the past, was required and often resulted in long delays and increased costs to the patient.  AB 1000 also addresses the issue of corporate employment, which was originally included in AB 1003, sponsored by the California Medical Association (CMA) and the California Orthopaedic Association (COA). The bill allows for any professional corporation listed in the Moscone Knox Act to employ all professions included in the Business and Professions Code, including physical therapists.  Although CPTA is not in favor of all elements of AB 1000, particularly the corporate employment issue, CPTA's leadership, while staying focused on the principles of health care reform, namely collaboration among providers to improve patient access and affordability to quality health care services, worked with CMA and COA leadership to come to an agreement on merging the two bills.

Dr. James Syms, PT, DSc, ATC, SCS, president of the CPTA, issued this statement:

"AB 1000 is an important step forward in ensuring patients can directly access physical therapist services for immediate treatment.

"In concert with health care reform and the need for providers to work together in finding solutions for timely and quality health care services, AB 1000 seeks to improve choice and access to cost-effective services, such as physical therapist services.

"AB 1000 will streamline the delivery of health care services, eliminating costs associated with unnecessary visits to physicians, delays in treatment and extra co-payments and promoting the efficient use of highly trained, qualified medical experts.  

"CPTA remains concerned about the corporate practice of medicine; we will continue to advance policies that eliminate all forms of conflict of interest and put patients first.

"The passage of AB 1000 is critical to ensuring patients receive appropriate, timely and affordable health care services."

SOURCE California Physical Therapy Association