When COVID-19 hit the United States in 2020, state policymakers across the country jumped to expand access to health care. They temporarily allowed more telehealth, for example, and made it easier for medical providers to practice across state lines.
Many states also gave new authority to nurses, physician assistants and pharmacists, often dropping or loosening requirements for physician supervision during the emergency. Some states expanded the types of services non-physicians could provide — or their “scope of practice” — to allow more of them to administer vaccines or dispense narcotics for the treatment of substance use.
Many in those professions, who have long battled in state legislatures for more authority, said the pandemic proved their case. A handful of states, including Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Utah and Wyoming, have made some changes permanent. Supporters say more states should follow.
