Congress moves to strip labor protections from temporary doctors and nurses

What it does

This bill would classify temporary doctors and advanced care practitioners (nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, nurse anesthetists) who work on short-term assignments as independent contractors rather than employees under federal labor law. This exempts them from minimum wage, overtime, and collective bargaining protections that normally apply to workers.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to exempt a specific class of healthcare workers from federal labor protections by reclassifying them as independent contractors. This is a targeted labor-law carve-out that benefits employers and staffing intermediaries at the expense of worker protections.

What the text implies

• Temporary healthcare workers lose access to FLSA minimum wage and overtime protections, even though they may work full-time hours during their assignment period.
• The exemption applies to assignments up to one continuous year, meaning workers could cycle through multiple one-year contracts without ever gaining employee status or its protections.
• Healthcare facilities can use locum tenens staffing to avoid unionization efforts and collective bargaining obligations, potentially suppressing wages across the healthcare labor market.
• The bill does not address liability, malpractice insurance, or credential verification — areas where employee status typically provides institutional accountability.
• Advanced care practitioners (NPs, PAs, CRNAs) are increasingly used as cost-saving substitutes for physicians; this bill formalizes their precarious status and may accelerate their use in understaffed or underserved settings.

Who it affects

Temporary healthcare workers lose access to minimum wage guarantees, overtime pay, and the right to unionize or collectively bargain. Healthcare facilities and staffing agencies gain flexibility to avoid employer obligations, shifting costs and risk onto workers who are already in precarious employment situations.

Who stands to gain

• healthcare staffing agencies
• hospitals and health systems
• physician-owned practices
• temporary staffing intermediaries

Named in the bill

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, National Labor Relations Act, Social Security Act Section 1861, Title 5 USC Section 8101, locum tenens professionals, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists, House Committee on Education and Workforce

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.

• Apr 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 14, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $790,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 37 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.

Burgess Owens, the sponsor, reported $133,666 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Association of Nurse Practitioners — $400,000 on 1 filing
• American Nurses Association — $270,000 on 1 filing
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners — $70,000 on 1 filing
• American Nurses Association — $50,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.