California weighs expanded role for nurse practitioners

States and medical providers are scrambling to figure out how they are going to deal with the myriad mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. With an anticipated influx of patients due to coverage expansion, some states are wondering where they are going to get the bandwidth to deal with all the new patients. In California, they are toying with the idea of allowing nurse practitioners to enact procedures without first consulting a doctor. There will be a hearing on Monday in the state Senate Appropriations Committee.