No on AB 876
What is AB 876 (Flora)?
AB 876 is proposed legislation in California that would extend nurse anesthetist scope of practice beyond current law to allow them to practice without physician involvement. CSA strongly opposes this legislation as it is a dangerous departure from current patient safety standards and will impede, not improve, the delivery of high-quality care.
AB 876 would LIMIT access to physician-led care, is OUT-OF-LINE with nationally accepted best practices and models of care, and will THREATEN the lives of California patients.
CSA Strongly Opposes AB 876:
Anesthesia is one of the highest-risk fields in medicine and is a critical care medical specialty. It requires the ability to rapidly diagnose, respond, and treat life-threatening situations. The physician-led Anesthesia Care Team (ACT) model has been the foundation of patient safety for decades, ensuring that when complications arise, a physician is available to respond.
AB 876 would dismantle this model by eliminating necessary physician oversight and overriding current safety standards embedded in California law.
Evidence does not support the claim that removing physicians from anesthesia care improves access; rather, it introduces unnecessary risks to patient outcomes. The reality is that preserving the physician-led model not only ensures patient safety but also maintains the most effective use of resources and anesthesiologists in delivering high-quality medical anesthesia care.
If passed, AB 876 would deepen healthcare inequities by creating a two-tiered system, where only some patients have access to physician-led anesthesia care. But California policy should protect patients’ access to a physician, regardless of where they live or their financial status.
Physicians and nurses are both essential – but they are not interchangeable. The physician-led anesthesia care team is the right solution – there are different roles, different jobs, with different training. But physician leadership and involvement remain essential to ensuring patient safety.
Join us in voicing your opposition today!
The California State Assembly Committee on Business and Professions will be considering the proposed legislation. We encourage you to contact the members of that committee to voice your concerns. Committee member information is here. You can also share your concerns with the bill’s author, Assemblymember Heath Flora, here or by calling his Capitol office at (916) 319-2009.
You can help CSA continue to fight for patient safety by donating to their advocacy fund here.