Tag Archives: licensure

Health Alerts

Occupational Licensing and Health Spending

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(A version of this Health Alert was published by The Hill.)

In July, the Obama administration released an important report on the harmful effects of occupational licensing. Compiled by experts at the Department of the Treasury, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Department of Labor, and bearing the imprimatur of the White House itself, the report concludes that:

There is evidence that licensing requirements raise the price of goods and services, restrict employment opportunities, and make it more difficult for workers to take their skills across State lines.

Reducing the burden of licensing would give consumers more choices at lower prices. Nowher Nowhere is this need more pressing than in healthcare, where licensing restrictions dominate. According to the report, almost 90 percent of health professionals need licenses to practice.

This seems reasonable. After all, most people don’t want just any old Joe ripping out their wisdom teeth or handing out medicines for any ailment. However, even in these cases, the argument for licensing is overblown. Continue reading Occupational Licensing and Health Spending →

Policy Updates

Obama Vs. Occupational Licensing

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Occupational licensing occurs when the state government legislates that a person cannot practice a trade, for example law, medicine, or hair-braiding, without a license. For years, free-market researchers have recognized that this increases costs and reduces choices for consumers, and prevents entrepreneurs from entering markets.

Now look who’s joined the ranks of critics of occupational licensing: President Obama! In a welcome report bearing the imprimatur of the White House, the Department of the Treasury, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Department of Labor conclude that:

Over the past several decades, the share of U.S. workers holding an occupational license has grown sharply. When designed and implemented carefully, licensing can offer important health and safety protections to consumers, as well as benefits to workers. However, the current licensing regime in the United States also creates substantial costs, and often the requirements for obtaining a license are not in sync with the skills needed for the job. There is evidence that licensing requirements raise the price of goods and services, restrict employment opportunities, and make it more difficult for workers to take their skills across State lines. Too often, policymakers do not carefully weigh these costs and benefits when making decisions about whether or how to regulate a profession through licensing. In some cases, alternative forms of occupational regulation, such as State certification, may offer a better balance between consumer protections and flexibility for workers.

Continue reading Obama Vs. Occupational Licensing →

Policy Updates

One Fifth of States Join Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

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StethoscopeIowa has become the tenth state to enact the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which will ease the licensing of physicians outside their home states. This is a great achievement for the medical profession and state sovereignty. For almost a year now, I have been supporting this effort and I am glad to see it succeeding.

On June 24, I attended a briefing conducted in the wake of the compact hitting seven members. This started the wheels turning to establish a commission that will actually execute and administer the interstate licensing of physicians. At the meeting I learned a few things, a couple of which surprised me: Continue reading One Fifth of States Join Interstate Medical Licensure Compact →

Policy Updates

American Medical Association Backs Telemedicine Compact

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Laptop and StethoscopeOur blog usually does not cheer the American Medical Association, because it is largely responsible for the Soviet-style centrally fixed prices that prevail in Medicare. Well, today we applaud the AMA for pledging its support to an important initiative that will increase the adoption of telehealth.

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has developed an interstate compact to allow physicians licensed in one state to provide telemedicine services in other states which join the compact. It will greatly advance the effective adoption of telehealth nationwide. Yes, I am aware that the pure libertarian view is that licensing should be abolished and certification by private organizations govern the recognition of professions. Unfortunately, that is not on the radar screen. An interstate compact allowing physicians to practice telehealth across state lines is a very positive step that will pre-empt federal interference in professional licensing.

Continue reading American Medical Association Backs Telemedicine Compact →

Policy Updates

Who Should Regulate Telemedicine, and How?

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Readers of this blog know that NCPA has long been a supporter of telemedicine. The question of who should regulate telemedicine, and how, is now coming to a head.

The practice of medicine is regulated by the states. For many years, advocates of telemedicine have pointed to inconsistencies in how medical licensing boards recognize out-of-state physicians as a limit to telemedicine. In 2012, health economist Jason Shafrin reviewed literature, which indicates that requiring a doctor to be physically present with a patient to prescribe reduces access and harms patients.

State-based medical licensing boards’ inability to overcome this problem, despite many years of effort, has led to frustration and the rise of a movement that has not quite come out for a federal takeover of telemedical licensing — but certainly looks like it might tip that way.

Continue reading Who Should Regulate Telemedicine, and How? →