WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Jan. 4 that members of its staff have submitted written comments regarding the competitive impact of a legislative proposal that would modify nurse practitioner supervision requirements in Pennsylvania.
The FTC submitted the written comments in response to a request made by Pennsylvania Rep. Jesse Topper. In the written comments, the FTC encourages Pennsylvania’s legislature to pass the legislation because it believes the law would lead to more competition, benefiting consumers, and more economic opportunity, benefiting nurse practitioners.
The bill is Pennsylvania House Bill 100. If passed, it would allow the state’s Board of Nursing the authority to license nurse practitioners (APRN-CNPs) to practice independently. These nurse practitioners could open their own practices and prescribe their own medications. A key component of the bill is that, in order to be eligible, nurse practitioners would need to have worked three years and have 3,600 cumulative hours of practice in collaboration with a physician.
The FTC comments were made by the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning and Bureaus of Competition and Economics.
The FTC voted 2-0 to approve the issuance of staff comments. Patricia Schultheiss of the Office of Policy Planning is the staff contact for the case.