> The provision of health care to low-income Americans remains an ongoing policy challenge. In this paper, I examine how important changes to occupational licensing laws for nurse practitioners and physician assistants have affected cost and access to health care for Medicaid patients. T**he results suggest that allowing physician assistants to prescribe drugs (including controlled substances) is associated with a substantial (more than 11 percent)** reduction in the dollar amount of outpatient claims per Medicaid recipient. **I find little evidence that expanded scope of practice has affected proxies for access to care such as total claims and total care days.** Relaxing occupational licensing requirements by broadening the scope of practice for healthcare providers may represent a low-cost alternative to providing quality care to America’s poor." https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/Timmons-Scope-of-Practice-v2.pdf
