 Meet Jane. Jane woke up this morning with a sore throat, and it really hurt. She called her doctor who said she could come in. Tuesday. So Jane has a choice. She could wait days for an appointment, go to the ER, or just fend for herself. But there's another way. In some states, Jane could go down the street to her neighborhood walking clinic where a nurse practitioner would be waiting to treat that sore throat today. But where Jane lives, that's not allowed. It's because of something called scope of practice laws. These laws limit what some healthcare providers, like nurses and physician assistants, can diagnose and treat on their own, despite the fact that they're already trained to provide basic medical care. These laws were put in place decades ago, and they were supposed to protect patients like Jane. But now, they're causing big problems. Here's how. By preventing those nurses and PAs from providing basic medical care, we're now relying on fewer doctors to treat more people. And as our population gets older and more people become insured, this will only get worse. So access to medical care is being reduced, especially for those who need it most. This means higher costs, longer wait times, and patients who have to drive much farther to see a doctor. The worst part is, these laws don't actually make us safer. The evidence shows that nurses and PAs can do just as good a job as doctors in terms of patient outcomes. And patients, they actually like the nurses better. So why get in the way? Well, the good news is, dozens of states have already removed these barriers, allowing folks like Jane to get faster care at lower cost. Imagine if the rest of the country reformed their scope of practice laws. Almost overnight, hundreds of thousands of medical professionals would be empowered to provide patients with routine medical care. Meanwhile, doctors can turn their attention to urgent, more complex medical work. So the next time Jane wakes up with that sore throat, she can get treated quickly and save money by visiting her local nurse practitioner and leave the ER for, you know, emergencies. Jane doesn't need much. All she needs is lawmakers to help her out by reforming these scope of practice laws. Better care for more people at lower costs? Now what's not to like about that?