Regulating the health professions: a tale of two jurisdictions

Public policy is increasingly asking: What public policy objectives are achieved by a particular law regulating private acts or licensing a profession? These questions are particularly being asked of the health professions. There is a growing feeling that state legislatures are using licensing laws for purposes other than consumer protection and quality assurance, which are widely believed to be the only legitimate goals of occupational regulation. Are we protecting the profession or the public? These questions will not go away. Two jurisdictions, Ontario and Maine, illustrate this debate.