Here is how we can improve the supply of healthcare professionals, facilities, diagnostic equipment, and treatment:

Repeal Certificate of Need (CON) laws to increase access and competition of health care procedures and facilities

CON laws restrict the availability of medical care by requiring providers to get permission from a state government bureaucracy to expand facilities or invest in new medical equipment.

Eliminating this law would expand medical care options as well as foster more competition among providers – both to the benefit of patients.

Unleash telehealth by allowing providers from other states, who are in good standing, to treat North Carolinians

The genius of telemedicine is that care can be provided at a distance. There is no reason to limit that distance to the boundaries of North Carolina. At a time when access to care continues to become more challenging, this move could make it easier to access basic consultations with shorter wait times.

Remove outdated supervisory requirements that limit the ability of advanced practice registered nurses to offer care

Laws restricting the ability of highly-trained medical care providers to provide much-needed care significantly restrict access to care – especially for rural populations.

Freeing select medical professionals to perform many of the basic evaluation and treatment functions — currently limited to physicians — is one way to drastically improve rural populations’ access to needed care.

Passing legislation to empower registered nurses and other physician assistants would not only expand access to care for rural patients, but also help to lower healthcare prices and create thousands of jobs as well.