nurse practitioners

February 17, 2012—Legislation that would reimburse nurse practitioners at the same rate as primary care doctors failed to pass on the House floor last week as expected, and instead was sent to the Rules Committee where such bills usually die. The motion made by Rep. Jason Conger (R-Bend) seemed to catch people off guard, yet had bipartisan support with a 33-26 vote. Conger said House Bill 4010 needed to go to the Rules Committee because he was concerned about the definition of a nurse practitioner’s “service area.”

January 23, 2012 -- Kathy Moon, a nurse practitioner at Dunes Family Health Care, is one of the lucky ones whose practice hasn’t closed down or had to slash services because nurses now make less for performing the same functions as physicians. Not that her patients wouldn’t notice the strain on her practice, she points out. But while it doesn’t affect her personally, being on a salary, it does affect the clinic’s ability to hire help in the office.

November 29, 2011—The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is trying to convince legislators that insurance companies should pay nurse practitioners the same amount as primary care physicians for the same services. But the association’s president, Susan King, said its efforts are being stonewalled by some insurance carriers. After meeting with representatives from five insurers over the past few months, the information they’re sharing about their reimbursement policies is opaque, at best.