[NPInfo] The UAW and NP/PA services. WE NEED YOUR HELP.

[Jeff and Linda Bocchetto]

Thanks for the information Dave. I tried the link and received a "page cannot be found message." You need to remove the "Here" from the address for it to work.

My Office Manager is checking with "legal" to make sure we are "safe," then we plan to draft a sample letter and mail it to our UAW patients so they can send something to the UAW in support of our plight.

My assistant overheard a patient in our waiting room yesterday screaming at her union rep on the phone for denying her child the availability of seeing her NP...Hopefully more will be willing to at least write.

Linda B
----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Mittman<mailto:dmittman at advancedprac.com> 
  To: ACC<mailto:acc-circle at listserve.com> ; NP Info<mailto:npinfo at nurse.net> ; paforum at mc.duke.edu<mailto:paforum at mc.duke.edu> 
  Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 1:00 PM
  Subject: [NPInfo] The UAW and NP/PA services. WE NEED YOUR HELP.


  Below is information supplied by the Michigan Academy of PAs.
  I know Michigan is one state where NPs and PAs have not yet  
  established a working relationship on a state organizational level and  
  IMHO, it is time to start. They both need to lead on this and I bet  
  the physicians they work with are being hurt by this also. A universal  
  problem for us all.
  Greg Bennett, the AAPA Past President( and a Michigan leader) told me  
  one way we could all tackle this new escalation to denial of NP and PA  
  services, is by writing to the UAW leadership. It's not just GM cars,  
  but the UAW controls all of the auto workers in the USA. So, maybe we  
  let them know that we can start buying some nice Korean cars. Hyundai  
  just came out with a Lexus clone. In any case, here is one contact  
  address for now:
  UAW
  Solidarity House
  8000 East Jefferson Avenue
  Detroit, Michigan 48214

  http://www.uaw.org/about/officers/index.html-Here<http://www.uaw.org/about/officers/index.html-Here> is a list of their  
  officers. There are NO email links I can find. So, take out a few  
  envelopes and write them a letter and copy it a few times and mail it.  
  I will today.

  Remember to be civil as we want to show them what professionals we  
  really are.

  Let's try something like this:

  Dear UAW Leader:


  I am a physician assistant (PA) who has treated thousands of people  
  over my career. I have treated expectant mothers, soldiers ready to  
  deploy, babies and the elderly and most folks in the middle that have  
  come in to see me for their medical care. All of them have left  
  happier and I sincerely hope, in some way, healthier than before they  
  saw me.
  I recently found out that you have instructed your insurance companies  
  not to reimburse for nurse practitioner and physician assistant  
  services to your members. I don't understand why? NPs and PAs are now  
  a VITAL part of providing healthcare to the people of America. We are  
  officers in the military (three PAs have died providing care in Iraq),  
  we can diagnose, treat and prescribe in all 50 states and all 200,000  
  of us want to help your members stay healthier. Our record regarding  
  providing high quality care is exemplary. I know good care is  
  important to you and we provide that good care.  So, why do you not  
  want your members to see us?
  The US auto industry is in enough trouble as it is. How does it  
  benefit you to be the ONLY group in the United States that will not  
  allow its members to see us? Is it worth the price of the public  
  relations and ill will, let alone the misunderstandings it will cause  
  with hundreds of thousands of clinicians, your members, our families,  
  their families, our associations and more?
  Why not let the patient choose the team of clinicians they want to  
  care for them?
  I know I am not a member of your union but I am a very smart consumer.  
  Please help me understand why the UAW alone across the country refuses  
  to let it's members see the two groups of healthcare professionals who  
  can and will make a difference in the lives of their members.
  Sincerely,
  Dave Mittman, PA
  Livingston,NJ
  President-Elect,
  American College of Clinicians
  dmittman at comcast.net<mailto:dmittman at comcast.net>





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