Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Health Care topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Nurse practitioner urges Missouri to lift supervision rules, cites care shortages
Summary
Suzanne Opperman, a nurse practitioner from Boone County, told the Board of Aldermen that Missouri's supervision requirement forces NPs to pay physician contracts (she cited $12,000–$54,000) and contributes to poor access and outcomes; she said some clinicians are pursuing litigation to change state rules.
Suzanne Opperman, a nurse practitioner who identified herself as practicing in Boone County, used her public-comment time to outline what she described as barriers to care in Missouri. "I cannot practice in the state without having to pay a physician for a contract, anywhere from 12,000 to $54,000 a year," she told the board, saying that arrangement limits access and that Missouri ranks poorly on health outcomes.
Opperman said the state has lost hospitals ("We've had 10 hospitals closed in the last 10 years") and described long waits for psychiatry appointments. She told the aldermen some nurse practitioners are pursuing legal action through a legal foundation to challenge the status quo. The board listened and thanked her for the explanation; no board action on state scope-of-practice rules was taken during the meeting because the issue is governed at the state level.
