Alaska has become the sixth state to formally replace “physician assistant” with “physician associate” in state statute after the state legislature voted June 19 to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of House Bill 195.
The veto override passed 43-17. The law updates the title throughout Alaska’s regulatory code without altering physician associates’ scope of practice, prescriptive authority or supervision requirements. Alaska joins Oregon, Maine, New Hampshire, Iowa and Delaware — which changed to “physician associate” just weeks earlier — in enacting the statutory shift, according to the American Academy of Physician Associates.
The AAPA voted in 2021 to adopt “physician associate” as the profession’s official title, arguing the term “assistant” understates PAs’ clinical responsibilities. The American Medical Association and the American Osteopathic Association have opposed the change, contending it creates confusion about who is providing care.
HB 195 also expands pharmacist prescribing authority for certain routine conditions, with those provisions, effective Jan. 1, 2027. A companion measure, SB 89, simultaneously removed collaborative agreement requirements for physician associates working in facilities licensed by the Alaska Department of Health. The AAPA said this clears a significant access barrier in a state where roughly 300,000 residents live in a primary care shortage area.
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