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Licensing restrictions for health care workers need to be flexible to fight coronavirus

The United States is facing an unprecedented modern health crisis with the coronavirus pandemic. Policymakers and the public are scrambling for solutions as cases spike in the U.S. and around the world. We need to employ a vast array of strategies and considerable public and private resources to combat this frightening virus effectively.

Thankfully, policymakers are already taking one such action by relaxing cumbersome rules that limit rapid responses to the outbreak. These include occupational licensing mandates and other regulatory requirements that apply to health care.

Health officials and medical service providers are doing far more than treating patients and encouraging people to practice good hygiene and social distancing. Behind the scenes, they are also working hard to ensure that essential resources and services get where they need to be, when they need to be there.

It is sometimes essential that medical services be moved from one place (or one use) to another. Crises usually have a disparate impact on different geographic areas, and the ability to reallocate resources is of utmost importance. Licensed medical professionals—including physicians, physician’s assistants and nurses — are our most critical resources.

However, this process is far more difficult than it needs to be because of restrictions on out-of-state license recognition. State laws that restrict health care workers from practicing in a state other than the one in which they received their licenses significantly hinder our ability to adapt. These laws exist in most states to one degree or another.

Take Massachusetts, which faces what one health care advocate called a “historic staffing crisis” at the long-term care facilities which house seniors — the people who are most vulnerable to this disease. Without the ability to recognize out-of-state licenses, the pool of workers to choose from is severely limited.

This is particularly problematic considering the United States is already facing a shortage of nurses and other medical professionals. Thankfully, decision-makers are starting to recognize this.

At the state level, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker recognized the problem when declaring a state of emergency. He announced procedures allowing nurses and other medical professionals licensed in different states to receive a license from Massachusetts within as little as a day. Baker made it clear that he wants to allow more medical workers to enter his state and begin addressing the ongoing crises.

The same is true of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who announced he is invoking the Texas Medical Board and Texas Board of Nursing’s disaster emergency licensure rules to fast-track medical licensure. Abbot said, “Texas will have an increased supply of health care professionals who will be able to provide necessary in-person and telemedicine services to Texans across the state.”

At the federal level, earlier this month President Donald Trump declared a National State of Emergency and discussed the need for prompt government action. Among other things, he highlighted interstate licensing restrictions as one major impediment.

Shortly after that, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the Department of Health and Human Services is issuing a regulation that will permit doctors and other medical professionals to practice across state lines in order to meet the needs of disproportionally affected areas.

This is not the first time policymakers have urged more licensing recognition among not only health care workers. Under Trump, reports from the Federal Trade Commission and White House Council of Economic Advisers have done so. The Obama Administration recommended occupational licensing reforms in a major 2015 White House report. This is a bipartisan issue that can win widespread support.

It should not take a crisis of this magnitude for policymakers to reconsider the way we prevent fully qualified medical professionals from going where they are most needed. But that moment is now upon us. More leaders would be wise to conduct a comprehensive review of regulatory burdens that hinder sensible, speedy responses to the coronavirus crisis.

If nothing else, the relaxation of these rules should give us a better feel for how necessary strict licensing requirements truly are. Chances are, we will learn just how costly the regulations have been all along.

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