NCC commends sponsors of bill allowing NPs to authorize diabetic shoes

AONL and 47 other members of the Nursing Community Coalition thanked Reps. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., for introducing the Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act (H.R. 1616). The bill would authorize nurse practitioners to certify when their patients with diabetes qualify for therapeutic shoes. Currently, NPs must send their patients to a physician to certify that they need the shoes. The physician then assumes patients’ care related to diabetes and refers patients to a podiatrist to fit and furnish the shoes. The process forces patients to change providers and delays timely access to therapeutic shoes, which treat and prevent complications related to diabetes. The NCC urges Congress to pass the bill this year. (Nursing Community Coalition letter, 10/29/26)