Survey Shows Michiganders Want Full and Direct Access to Nurse Practitioners
Media Contact: Bryan Black
AUSTIN, TEXAS — As Michigan considers passing Senate Bill 680 to help address primary care provider shortages and improve access to care, a statewide survey of Michigan voters indicates that three-quarters of Michiganders support legislation that would give them better access to nurse practitioners (NPs). The survey, conducted by the Mellman Group, found a majority of those polled also overwhelmingly support full access to the high-quality care and services Michigan NPs provide.
Support extends across key demographics — including gender, age, party identification and region of the state — for Michigan to retire an outdated requirement for NPs to hold a government-mandated contract with a physician. Most voters also indicated that they would be more likely to vote for a legislator who agreed to remove these restrictions.
“Throughout Michigan, people are facing unprecedented challenges accessing quality, timely and affordable health care services. Outdated laws in Michigan are needlessly adding to this problem,” said April Kapu, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP). “It’s time for Michigan to retire the barriers that limit patient choice and access to NPs. Michiganders want to implement tried-and-tested policies already embraced by more than half the nation.”
According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, as of Dec. 31, 2021, nearly 3.4 million Michiganders live in a federally designated primary care health professional shortage area where only approximately 50% of the need for primary care services is met. Even more alarming, mental health professional shortages impact more than 5 million Michiganders, with just under 33% of the need being met.
“Senate Bill 680 is a common-sense solution that has already been successfully implemented in over half of the country. This is an evidence-based opportunity to proactively modernize a major component of our state’s approach to health care,” said AARP Michigan Director Paula D. Cunningham. “Within the next decade, our state is projected to have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18 for the first time in our history. We urge Michigan lawmakers to stand with voters by passing measures like these that make quality, affordable health care more accessible for our seniors now and into the future.”
If enacted into law, Senate Bill 680 would make Michigan the 27th state to provide patients full and direct access to NP-delivered care through Full Practice Authority (FPA), a legislative solution embraced by the National Academy of Medicine, National Governors Association, American Enterprise Institute and many others. The legislation is currently pending in the Michigan Senate Committee on Health Policy and Human Services.
###
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. It represents the interests of the more than 355,000 licensed NPs in the U.S. AANP provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NPs' patients and other health care consumers. To locate an NP in your community, visit npfinder.com. For more information about NPs, visit aanp.org.