Over the next 13 months, the Louisiana Department of Health estimates that 280,000 to 350,000 residents will no longer be eligible. Medicaid members must update their contact information with their provider or the LDH to be notified of their status.
As KALB-TV in Alexandria recently reported, Grant Parish is now entirely without a single primary health care physician. Thankfully, nurse practitioners are “leading the way” in providing care to the people of this rural community.
The Louisiana House of Representatives has paved the way for nurse practitioners to practice independently of doctors, approving House Bill 495 to keep in place an emergency executive order that Gov. John Bel Edwards issued earlier in the pandemic. The bill passed with a 60-41 vote and will proceed to the Senate.
Louisiana’s nurse practitioners are pushing to eliminate collaborative practice agreements, which they argue will improve access to health care across the state. The LANP laid out their argument during a virtual town hall. During the event, panelists promoted House Bill 495, a measure moving through the Louisiana State Legislature that would get rid of the agreements.
It has now been one year since the first temporary suspension of the Collaborative Agreement Act. This agreement requires nurse practitioners to have a contract with a physician to be able to practice, creating limits to accessible healthcare. NPs are the main providers of primary care in Louisiana. The suspension on the act has renewed every three weeks since this time last year. Many NPs are hoping the suspension is permanent.
COVID-19 has highlighted a national need to reduce restrictions that limit licensed nurses from practicing across state lines and to the full scope of their education. Since the disastrous event of Hurricane Katrina, much progress has been made to remove barriers, but we now see that even more is needed — not only during emergencies, but when life returns to normal.
The recently-released National Academy of Medicine’s The Future of Nursing Report 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity details just how much help NPs can provide in addressing the on-going primary care shortage. **Areas of the report of specific interest include: Pages 80-81, 86-88, 150.
Click the link above to view a live recording of the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners in a virtual town hall.
Louisiana lawmakers in the House passed HB 495 which will allow NPs to practice medicine independently of doctors, a move that 14 other states have already approved.
A letter published on May 4 misrepresented and inaccurately described the consequences of House Bill 495. This bill would give nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives full practice authority after transition-to-practice requirements are met. Contrary to what is stated in the letter, it does not change the scope of practice for nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives.
Nurse practitioners hope the suspension of the Collaborative Agreement Act becomes permanent.
Nurse practitioners practice “more than medicine.” Click the link to learn more about Vanderbilt University Professor LaTonya J. Trotter’s new book on NPs.
Grant Parish has been designated as a health professional shortage area since 1978 for its lack of PCPs.
Patient access must improve to break the cycle of opioid deaths.
Sophia L. Thomas, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, writes an article in the U.S. Healthcare Journal on NPs strengthening health access.