cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/68818194
How gig nursing platforms are lobbing States to deregulate healthcare
A seismic shift is rocking the healthcare industry. Uber’s business model—the “gigification” of labor—and lobbying practices have made their way to healthcare staffing.1 Backed by huge sums of venture capital and private equity funds, gig nursing platforms are promoting a political agenda that limits public oversight of healthcare facilities, weakens labor protections, and exposes patients to risks.
Since 2022, lawmakers in at least seventeen states have introduced bills to recognize gig nursing platforms as a new kind of business model, one that should be regulated differently from healthcare staffing agencies. In an additional eight states, policymakers have already carved out platform work from certain state laws. In sum, efforts that would deregulate gig nursing platforms have emerged in nearly half of all US states.
Platforms such as Clipboard Health, KARE Technologies, Nursa, and ShiftKey are using new technologically infused definitions to advance old deregulatory arguments. These platforms are trying to convince policymakers that their business model is not that of a healthcare staffing agency, and that they instead should be recognized as a “healthcare worker platform” or a “healthcare technology platform.” By renaming their businesses, gig nursing platforms are following the path of Uber, which exempted itself from regulation in dozens of states by convincing policymakers that it was not a transportation company.2 This new categorization allowed ride-hail platforms to avoid responsibility for passenger safety, minimum wages for workers, and contributions for social insurance funds.3 For the healthcare industry, the stakes of this strategy are even higher. Gig nursing platforms and their state-level campaigns threaten the stability, working conditions, and value of labor for an entire profession.
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