Supply-side health policy: The impact of scope-of-practice laws on mortality

Benjamin J. McMichael

Journal of Public Economics, 2023, vol. 222, issue C

Abstract: The increased use of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants/associates (PAs) to provide healthcare represents an important supply-side policy option to expand access to care. However, restrictive scope-of-practice laws limit their ability to deliver care. I examine the effect of relaxing these scope-of-practice laws on healthcare amenable deaths, which are sensitive to access to care. Analyzing deaths in the United States between 2005 and 2019, I find that relaxing NP scope-of-practice laws reduces healthcare amenable deaths by 12 per 100,000 individuals and that relaxing PA scope-of-practice laws reduces these deaths by 10 per 100,000, with larger reductions in rural areas.

Keywords: Scope-of-practice; Nurse practitioner; Physician assistant; Mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:222:y:2023:i:c:s004727272300083x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104901

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