Gig Nursing Apps Intensify Lobbying to Deregulate Healthcare Sector
A recent report from the AI Now Institute has raised alarms about the aggressive lobbying efforts by billion-dollar tech platforms to deregulate the "Uber for nursing" industry. Titled Uber for Nursing Part II: How Gig Nursing Companies Are Lobbying States to Deregulate Healthcare, the study highlights how artificial intelligence is being deployed to expand gig work in healthcare, often at the expense of workers' rights, protections, and fair pay.
AI-Driven Models Undermine Nurse Protections
The report details that gig nursing platforms utilise AI to manage various aspects of employment, including setting pay rates for shifts, monitoring performance metrics, and using collected data to influence future job access and compensation. Similar to ride-share companies, these platforms enable nurses to bid on work shifts, with the lowest pay rate typically securing the position. This model has proven highly profitable, with three nurse gig platforms achieving valuations of $1 billion, backed by private equity investments and government contracts for facilities such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centres.
Dr Katie J Wells, co-author of the report and a senior fellow at AI Now, expressed concern over the implications. "AI is incorporated into all these human management software systems, and for nurses that means dropping them into all kinds of places, without orientation, without workers' comp, without any way to protect themselves if they're sick and they need to cancel," she stated. "That also means, for a lot of these apps, using AI technologies to facilitate a bidding war against nurses."
State-Level Deregulation Efforts Gain Momentum
Since 2022, lawmakers in at least 17 states have introduced bills aimed at exempting gig nursing platforms from regulations that apply to traditional healthcare staffing agencies. Lobbying by these companies has led to exemption bills advancing in states including Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, and Rhode Island. Additionally, policies that carve out exemptions from worker protection laws have progressed in Georgia, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Currently, gig nursing platforms are exempt from worker protection laws in West Virginia and unemployment insurance laws in Louisiana.
The report draws parallels between these efforts and those of ride-share companies, which historically sought to avoid regulation as part of the transportation industry. Dr Wells emphasised the urgency of the situation: "I'm really hoping that we can protect healthcare from what I fear is a sort of more aggressive attack, at least if we look since 2022 at just how much ground these companies have traveled. They've made such headway in so many places about pushing back worker protections, but also public safety concerns and in patient wellbeing."
Federal Lobbying and Contrasting State Responses
At the federal level, the industry is advocating for legislation to promote "independent work," including a bill that would allow gig nursing platforms to be contracted by the government during emergencies and indemnify them from liability for patient injuries. This push contrasts sharply with actions in New York state, which passed a law in 2025 requiring gig platforms to comply with state regulations for healthcare staffing agencies.
Dr Wells concluded with a stark warning about the broader implications: "There's a huge concern that if this model continues to gain acceptance or carve-outs, a lot of jobs, I think, could go this way. We focus so often on how AI is going to replace your jobs, and, OK, maybe. But also, first AI is going to totally degrade it and leave you without protections." The report underscores the need for vigilance as AI integration in healthcare could reshape employment standards, prioritising corporate profits over worker welfare and patient safety.
