AFP-Kansas State Director expresses support for APRN bill that did not pass in 2019 session

Americans for Prosperity-Kansas State Director Jeff Glendening believes that legislation that was replaced by the Medicaid expansion proposal in the 2019 Legislature regarding APRN’s has value on its own.

“The bill really sought to remove a barrier to opportunity to folks in rural and urban parts of Kansas that see a lack of access to care, by removing a needless, meaningless collaborative agreement that these nurses have to make with physicians,” said Glendening.

Over 4000 APRN’s in Kansas need to find a physician that will sign the agreement and often they have to pay that doctor for the privilege.

“We have a shortage of physicians in the state,” said Glendening. “Twenty-two other states have what we’re looking for. They don’t have that meaningless collaborative agreement and what we want to do is remove that barrier so that we can have that access to care.”

An analysis of 26 peer-reviewed studies showed health outcomes to be virtually identical between physician-treated patients and APRN-treated patients.

“They’re prescribing medication, diagnosing patients and referring to physicians when they’re getting beyond what they’ve been trained to do,” said Glendening. “That’s the great thing. Many of us already see nurse practitioners and they do a tremendous job.”

A second version of the bill is alive at this point and will likely be brought up in the 2020 legislative session.