A new study published Tuesday in Health Affairs suggests that nurse anesthetists' quality of work is not lower when they aren't supervised by a doctor, The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports. "The background for this is that Medicare won't reimburse for anesthesia services unless a physician is supervising what's going on. States can opt out of this requirement by petitioning [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], and as of 2005, 14 states had done so." A similar move by California is being challenged by physicians' groups in that state... 
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