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A turf war over your health care options is heating up at the State Capitol. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, it has to do with giving Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners more authority at the expense of doctors.

Elizabeth Markovich isn’t a doctor, but she has a Doctorate degree in nursing and more than 15 years experience.. She treats patients but can’t prescribe most medications. “I can’t prescribe that without waiting for a signature from our calibrating physician” says the nursing veteran

At the state Capitol this committee room was packed with white coats representing just about every facet of medicine…all of them but one in favor of giving nurse practitioners autonomy from doctors and allowing them prescribing authority. The one group opposed: the Flordia Medical Association and its President Dr. Alan Pillersdorf. Pres. FL Medication Association

“We don’t want to divide the care of a patient and put in compartments” Pillersdorf told the committee.  Committee members, including Rep Jose Oliva (R-Miami) a future House Speaker, had strong words for the MD’s and their opposition.

“Lets continue to let the supervision happen, but lets make it illegal to charge for that supervision and lets see how long that motivation would remain” says Oliva

The legislation passed. Afterwards, Sponsor Dr. Cary Pigman took issue with the need for supervision’ “It’s not the kind of supervision you would like to think,  where there is cooperation back and forth.”

“So the current system is kind of a sham?”

“I”m afraid it is” responded Pigman.

Jean Aertker of Tampa has been a nurse practitioner since 1984.

“and this will help clarify some of the outdated laws” she says.

Even the sponsor, who is a doctor, concedes this is going to be a multi year effort. And that means Compromise may be in the air…giving ARNP’s more prescribing authority, but keeping a doctor in the loop.

Florida is the most restricting state in its regulation of Advanced degree nurses. A typical supervising doctor may charge as many as 5 ARNPs fifty thousand dollars a year and still operate a medical practice.