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Louisiana's nurse practitioners are pushing to eliminate collaborative practice agreements, which they argue will improve access to health care across the state.
The Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners laid out their argument during a virtual town hall on Thursday. During the event, panelists promoted House Bill 495, a measure moving through the Louisiana State Legislature that would get rid of the agreements.
Under the current law, nurse practitioners in Louisiana are required to have a collaborative practice agreement with a physician, which often involves the nurse practitioner paying a monthly fee to the physician. Without the agreement, a nurse practitioner cannot legally see patients, though the rule has been suspended since March 2020, as part of Gov. John Bel Edwards' COVID-19 executive orders.