This was a bill introduced into the US Senate on 10 August 2015 by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT). The purpose of the bill was to enable podiatrists to be placed on the same level as doctors of medicine and osteopathy with the Veteran Affairs VA medical system. After being read on 10 August, it was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
A similar bill was introduced into the House of Representatives by Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) on 9 July 2015). That bill (H.R. 3016 – Veterans Employment, Education, and Healthcare Improvement Act) was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. This bill’s aim was to include podiatrists within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) definition of physician, and increases their pay grade to match other VA physician compensation.
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) responded to the committees by opposing the bills:
There was quite a bit of discussion on podiatry blogs and forums about the AAOS letter. There was this response from Lowell Weil Jr on the Podiatry Today blog and the response below from the American Podiatric Medical Association:
The American Board of Podiatric Medicine responded more directly to the AAOS letter:
The bill passed the Full House Committee on July 24th 2017.
External Links:
Congress.gov (S275) | Congress.gov (HR316)
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