Nurse practitioners in Florida got a lift this week from a Federal Trade Commission letter that branded House Bill 4103 "a pro-competitive improvement in the law."
HB 4103, sponsored by state Rep. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, would lift restrictions on Florida's nurse practitioners and authorize them to practice at their "full scope."
While agreeing with a Florida Department of Health report which found that reducing current supervision requirements "would allow more access to health care," the FTC lambasted the 2006 Legislature for applying the physician-driven restrictions in the first place.
"Unnecessary restrictions ... are likely to reduce the availability, and raise the prices, of health care services," stated the FTC letter, which was addressed to Campbell.
"Absent evidence that the heightened restrictions were, and still are, necessary to protect the public, it appears that HB 4103 would benefit Florida consumers by facilitating the provision of lower cost and more accessible health-care services."
So far, however, Campbell's bill has failed to make the agenda at the Health and Human Services Access Subcommittee.
Chairman Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, did not respond to Sunshine State News' request for comment.
Susan Lynch, vice president for public relations at the nurse practitioners' PAC, said she hopes that in light of the FTC letter, Harrell "will realize importance of increasing health-care access so that Florida's citizens can have a win-win situation."
The Florida Medical Association did not respond to Sunshine State News' request for comment.
Currently, 48 states allow for full prescriptive authority by nurse practitioners, while 23 states do not require supervisory involvement by physicians.
Nurse practitioners cite a study by the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, which estimated that Florida could save $339 million in primary-care costs by permitting them to practice at their full scope.
Annual savings of up to $44 million were also projected in the Medicaid account, which is the state's second biggest budget expenditure after K-12 education.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
