Nurse Practitioners Offer Prescription for Medicaid

Florida's nurse practitioners say they could save the state $1 billion and create new jobs if they were allowed to practice as they do elsewhere.

Stan Whittaker, chairman of the Florida Council of Advanced Practice Nurses PAC, said, "Utilizing (nurse practitioners) has significantly reduced costs to Medicaid programs in other states. We are ready and able to do the same for Florida. It is in the public interest for this to happen, and really the better question is why it hasn't happened already."

Whittaker made his comments during Friday's Medicaid reform hearing in Tallahassee, where lawmakers are exploring ways to contain costs of the $14.7 billion program.

The Institute of Medicine recently released a report that recommends full utilization of nurse practitioners as a way to drive down expenses, while increasing high-quality access to primary health care.

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