The American Medical Association and 87 other physician organizations are opposing a congressional bill that would expand the scope of practice for nonphysician practitioners.
The AMA and other groups sent a joint letter Nov. 2 to House committee leaders opposing H.R. 8812, the Improving Care and Access to Nurses Act, known as the "I CAN Act.".
"We are deeply concerned that this broad, sweeping bill endangers the care of Medicare and Medicaid patients by expanding the types of services NPPs can perform and removing physician involvement in patient care," the letter said. "This legislation would allow NPPs to perform tasks and services outside their education and training and could result in increased utilization of services, increased costs and lower quality of care for our patients."