Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 2846 amends the Medical Practice Act to add public school clinics to the list of practice sites where an advanced practice nurse or physician's assistant is authorized to prescribe medicines under the direction of a physician and subject to appropriate consent for treatment. A health maintenance organization or a preferred provider benefit plan is prohibited from refusing to list on its provider panel a nurse or assistant in a collaborative practice if their collaborating physician is listed and the nurse or assistant meets the organization's preestablished quality of care standards. These organizations are also prohibited from refusing to contract with, reimburse, or otherwise discriminate against an advanced practice nurse or physician's assistant because they are not included among the providers listed in the Insurance Code from whom a beneficiary may choose treatment. The act also changes the requirement that supervisory physicians visit sites serving medically underserved populations from once a week to once every 10 business days.