Does Contracting with Managed Care Organizations Remain A Barrier for Nurse Practitioners?

Abstract

Upon implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many managed care organizations (MCOs) initially increased their nurse practitioner (NP) contracting. This trend has not continued, potentially frustrating ACA efforts to expand primary care provider capacity. In this study, about 25% of the responding MCOs did not contract with NPs as primary care providers. only 62.5% of respondent MCOs offering Medicaid products reported contracting with NPs as primary care providers, suggesting this will place a disproportionate burden on low-income patients seeking to access care. Findings from this study also have important geographic implications, suggesting the decision to contract with NPs is made individually, not necessarily influenced by the numbers of newly insured or available primary care physicians.