Committee adopts substitute for nurse-practitioner scope bill and advances it with recommendation

The House Health Policy Committee adopted and advanced a substitute to House Bill 4399 aimed at expanding nurse practitioners' practice authority.

Representative Preston said the substitute phases NPs out of the contract process after they complete 1,000 collaborative hours and adds continuing-education requirements on pharmacology, therapeutics and prescribing to ensure patient safety during the transition. "Under our substitute, NPs will be phased out of contract out of the contract process once they complete a thousand collaborative hours," he said.

Preston told the committee a pending federal Rural Health Transformation funding opportunity — described in testimony as a "$50,000,000,000 program" — awards up to 100 points in its rubric to states with full practice authority for NPs, which could affect Michigan's competitiveness for the grant. He said the substitute strengthens training and mentorship provisions to protect patients while expanding access in rural and underserved areas.

The committee adopted the H-1 substitute by unanimous roll-call (14–0–0). Later, on the motion to report the bill with recommendation, the committee voted 12–1–1 to advance the measure.

Representative Preston framed the substitute as an incremental, evidence-based approach intended to expand access to primary care, particularly in rural communities. The transcript records many submitted public-comment cards on the issue; the committee did not hold extended questioning during the excerpted proceedings.