My question isn't whether or not a nurse should be able to write an antibiotics prescription for an earache (IMO, they should...).
Nope, my question is a little deeper. I think that the gov't should be making things easier for docs to do their jobs, so that we *don't* have a shortage of doctors. Instead, we've got governmental over-regulation, and are driving qualified people away from the profession.
So, I suppose that these particular pols found the correct answer, but asked the wrong question. Just my $0.02.
You have hit upon one of the rationales behind the ACA: breaking the medical cost curve. A family practice doctor earns let's say $150,000 a year. A nurse practitioner earns $85,000. The math is simple plus the government gets extra powers to rule over your life. A win win situation for a bureaucrat.