Kansas committee hears pros and cons of adding APRNs to Health Care Stabilization Fund

The Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare opened a hearing on Senate Bill 41, which would add advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to the definition of “health care provider” under the Kansas Health Care Stabilization Fund and subject those APRNs to the fund’s minimum professional liability requirements, committee members heard.

Jenna Moyer, reviser in the Statute's Office, told the panel that the bill amends KSA 40-34-01, adds APRNs to the fund’s definition of health care provider, and applies the existing minimum professional liability requirement and access to fund protections to nurse practitioners and other APRNs. “It adds advanced practice registered nurses so ARNPs to the definition of health care provider,” Moyer said, adding the measure also cleans up numbering to make the statute more readable.

The bill drew a proponent from the Kansas Medical Society and an opponent from the state APRN organization. Rochelle Colombo, executive director of the Kansas Medical Society, said the measure stems from a recommendation by the Health…