The nurse practitioner push for independent practice has been expanding. Recent data has shown that NPs bill more money to patients and provide a lower quality care than physicians. Why are states expanding independent practice rights for NPs instead of increasing medical school seats and offering more incentives for physicians to practice rurally?
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Because Congress capped the number of new doctors that could be trained per year. Nurse Practitioners are a way around that cap.
“Before physicians practice medicine independently, they receive on-the-job training as residents in teaching hospitals.” [1]
“Medicare caps the number of residents it will fund per hospital based on how many residents it funded in 1996.” [1]
“Congress capped the number of residencies the program funds in 1997. ‘It was originally frozen as a response to lobbying from doctors who were complaining that there were too many doctors,’ Baker says. Trade groups for doctors have also been lobbying against allowing nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other medical professionals to play a larger role in treating patients. The result of policies like these, Baker argues, is a market with less competition, driving up prices for everyone.” [2]
Source:
1. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-391
2. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/12/702500408/are-doctors-overpaid
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