A bill (HB352) titled the “Healthcare Licensing Compacts” would allow Alaska to join compacts for medical professionals, allowing expedited licensing for physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, and EMS. Representative Fields and Representative Gray are the sponsors of the bill that is currently in the Labor & Commerce and Finance Committee.
The psychology compact known as the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, or PSYPACT would allow qualified licensed psychologists to continue providing therapy to clients that were traveling or out of state for a long duration as long as they were in another PSYPACT state.
The HB352 committee invited AK-PA to provide public comment on PSYPACT. While the other three groups fully endorsed their inclusion in the bill, AK-PA’s presentation informed the committee that PSYPACT’s requirements to qualify to practice across state lines were limiting and concerned the board. Because there are four compacts in the bill the committee agreed to spend more time to understand each compact. The committee also informed AK-PA that PSYPACT could be stripped from the bill if the association was not able to provide an endorsement by the time the bill was ready to move out of committee.
The AK-PA board began discussing PSYPACT in February and decided to survey the membership before making a statement on PSYPACT. The March meeting was dedicated to PSYPACT and have questions answered by PSYPACT’s Executive Director, Janet Orwig. After discussing the benefits and concerns at length a majority of AK-PA’s board members at the meeting voted to support HB352 and endorse PSYPACT. A letter of endorsement was drafted and sent to the HB352 committee. The letter also noted that AK-PA would work to address two main concerns. First is to confirm that graduates of the doctoral program in Psychology at Alaska Pacific University will be eligible to seek PSYPACT credentials, and second, that AK-PA is committed to promoting culturally competent psychological practice in the state by developing a plan to disseminate continuing education material for out-of-state psychologists who wish to practice in Alaska via PSYPACT. We would coordinate this effort with the Board of Psychologists and Psychological Associates.
PSYPACT Survey to Continue
The PSYPACT survey will now be open to non-member licensed psychologists through the end of March and can be taken at this link: https://www.ak-pa.org/lac/
Track Bill HB352
https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/34?Root=HB%20352#tab6_4
Links to AK-PA Documents
AK-PA PSYPACT Presentation-Print2
AK-PA PSYPACT Survey results 3-11-26 (2)
Read the Bill: