The impact of nurse practitioner regulations on population access to care.

•People living in states with independent nurse practitioner (NP) regulations had <30-min drive to their primary health care practice.•In states with restrictive NP practice, NPs are geographically colocated with supervising MDs.•Restricted NP practice limits their ability to provide care in areas that lack access to primary health-care providers.•In states with restrictive NP regulations, NPs are not practicing to their full scope of practice.