[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     MEDICAID NURSING INCENTIVE ACT

  (Mr. OLVER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, today I am reintroducing the Medicaid Nursing 
Incentive Act of 1999, and I want to thank the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Mrs. Nancy Johnson) and the 13 other original cosponsors, 
men and women from all over this country and from both parties, for 
joining me in this introduction.
  This bill will provide direct Medicaid reimbursement for all nurse 
practitioners and college nurse specialists. Each year millions of 
Americans go without the health care they need simply because 
physicians are not available to treat them. From the streets of Los 
Angeles to the hill towns of western Massachusetts and all in between, 
Americans cannot find physicians who are willing to practice in their 
urban or small rural communities.
  There is an exception to this trend, however. Nurse practitioners and 
clinical nurse specialists often serve in areas where others refuse to 
work. Federal law requires Medicaid reimbursement only for certified 
family and pediatric nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives.
  Extending Medicaid coverage to all nurse practitioners and clinical 
nurse specialists, as 22 States have done, makes good common sense. By 
expanding this coverage, these qualified health professionals will 
finally be able to provide the care so many of our constituents need.

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