Category: Election 2016

On Election Day, the old saying couldn’t be more apt: Decisions are made by those who show up. With healthcare reform and other nursing-related issues so prominent this campaign season, it’s more important than ever that Registered Nurses across the country show up on November 6 to ensure their voices are heard and their ballots are counted.

The fact that one in every 45 registered voters is a nurse underscores the impact of our collective voice. During the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Year of Advocacy, we are working to make it as easy as possible for busy RNs to get out and vote this fall, in an effort to guarantee that elected officials understand that impact firsthand.

At the center of ANA’s 2018 Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts is our new #NursesVote Action Center. There you can find everything you need to have your vote count on Election Day, as well as instructions on how to update your information if your voter registration has lapsed.

Not sure if you’re registered? Our Action Center can help there, too, as well as provide information on how to find where your polling place is located, or vote early to accommodate your schedule on November 6. After you enter some basic information, the Action Center will do the rest to equip you to fulfill your civic duty in this dynamic campaign season.

• Need help registering to vote? Click here to get registered in two minutes or less.
• If you’re not sure about your registration status, click here to easily check it.
• And if you’re already registered, take a minute to share this message on Facebook to help remind your friends and family to register, too.

When nurses vote, lawmakers in Washington, DC, and in statehouses across the country listen. Visit ANA’s #NursesVote Action Center today and help us make this the most meaningful election for nurses yet.

While Congress has thus far in 2018 declined to take up legislation that would dismantle affordable access to health care that was a hallmark of their 2017 agenda, the Trump administration continues to move forward with a number of regulatory initiatives that will continue to advance this misguided approach and cost more Americans the coverage they need.

One plan the administration is currently discussing would allow for wider availability of short-term, limited-duration insurance plans that cover patients for less than a year; another would permit the self-employed and small business employees to make use of association health plans. In both cases, coverage offered would not be required to meet the list of essential health benefits that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) currently requires.

As a result, a vast majority (more than 95%) of healthcare groups that submitted comments on President Trump’s recent plan to scale back these protections said that such an approach was a mistake.

Meanwhile, many of those same groups have come out in opposition of a proposal that would weaken Medicaid by creating work requirements for certain adult recipients who have benefited from Medicaid expansion. While specific efforts to implement such requirements are being led by state governments, it was the administration’s decision to allow such proposals in the first place that has enabled them to do so.

The administration’s argument, however, is disingenuous at best, as that Medicaid expansion provides healthcare coverage to working, low-income Americans. According to a December 2017 Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief, roughly 6 in 10 of the 22 million non-disabled adults receiving Medicaid benefits are employed either full- or part-time, while 8 in 10 live in a working family. Most of these individuals work either for small firms or in low-paying industries which do not offer healthcare coverage, and thus rely on Medicaid for health care.

Further, among those adults who are not working, most report a major barrier to employment such as illness, disability, or care-giving duties. According to the same Kaiser issue brief, Medicaid expansion has not negatively impacted labor market participation; in fact, some research demonstrates that Medicaid coverage supports work.

Finally, last year’s tax bill, which included a repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate, continues to wreak havoc on insurance premiums. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently revised its estimates and determined that this repeal will lead to a premium increase of at least 10% in 2019. Premium increases are expected to be finalized state-by-state in early October, roughly a month prior to November’s general elections.

President Trump today signed into law a major $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill which funds the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2018. This bill significantly increases both defense and domestic discretionary spending, and includes several important healthcare provisions critical to nurses.

ANA is pleased to note that this spending measure fully funds Title VIII Nurse Workforce Development Programs and includes a $20 million funding increase for such programs. We applaud Congress for recognizing the importance of a nursing workforce that is ready to meet the challenges of our current healthcare environment. ANA also applauds Congress for providing an additional $3 billion to fight the opioid crisis. As providers on the frontlines of this epidemic, nurses witness firsthand the devastation of addiction and overdose. We hope that this combination of workforce and opioid funding will enable the health care system – and nurses in particular – to put an end to this devastating scourge.

Congress also started to show signs of progress on gun violence prevention, as thousands of engaged Americans across the country prepare for this weekend’s March for Our Lives. Congress clarified that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is permitted to engage in some gun violence prevention research, and laid the groundwork for an improved background check system. That said, much work remains to keep our children and nation safe from these senseless tragedies.  Acknowledging the CDC’s authority to study the problem without actually allocating resources carries the same chilling effect on conducting research as an outright ban.

ANA is also very disappointed by Congress’s failure to ensure affordable and accessible healthcare coverage for all Americans. The omnibus spending measure notably did not include a measure or any funding intended to stabilize the individual health insurance markets. Without such market stabilization efforts, individual premiums will continue to skyrocket and many Americans will choose to forgo health insurance coverage altogether, exposing them to physical and financial risks. ANA continues to urge Congress to act toward implementing market stabilization measures.

ANA again applauds Congress for ending (for now) the familiar cycle of lurching from budget crisis to budget crisis with no long-term, bipartisan solutions to outstanding policy issues. While the provisions noted above – nursing workforce, opioids, gun violence prevention – are a start to solving some of these issues, they do not go far enough. We urge Congress to continue to work toward solving these critical policy issues, and to realize that continuing to play politics with the stability of the individual health insurance market hurts vulnerable Americans who rely on affordable and accessible health coverage.