What’s your take on the future of health care coverage?

  

Long before the election, we’ve been asking nurses to share their experiences with lawmakers and with each other. What you’ve seen and learned in the classroom and on the job is the truth of healthcare in America. But ever since the election, news stories on TV and online only want to talk about the political fights around healthcare – not the truth from nurses like you.

That’s why we’ll keep sharing your stories here in Washington – so the new Congress and the new administration see more than the political stakes and the dollar signs.

They need to hear the experiences of nurses like Lisa:

It would be grand if the ACA could be “fixed” to allow truly affordable coverage. I see patients at least once a week without coverage, and I work only with children. Those without are middle class who don’t make enough to afford it and make too much for assistance. I know families without insurance because they can’t afford the premiums. I know those whose jobs have been cut back to part time so employers can avoid offering too expensive health care. – Lisa, MI

And Cindy:

Many of my patients struggle to afford their medications, deductibles are going up as are monthly premiums. I don’t understand why the CEOs of insurance companies get paid such exorbitant salaries while denying coverage for basic diabetes supplies.

I would hope some kind of compromise could be reached in order to continue Medicaid expansion to all 50 states. Since I work in pediatrics, many of my patients are young adults who rely on their parent’s insurance coverage until age 26, so this needs to stay in place. – Cindy, TN

While pundits and politicians debate questions of health insurance in terms of millions of patients, or billions of dollars, they’re missing the vital perspective of nurses who work one-on-one with patients who could lose access to healthcare altogether.

And for nurses like Sarah, it hits even closer to home:

I am a nurse who is caring for my disabled parents and 3 small children. I also have my 24 year old cousin who lives with me. The Affordable Care Act makes sure that half of the members of my household have access to affordable healthcare. It also effects the ability of my patients to have access to mental health care. Please, do not repeal the ACA. You will plummet families like mine into financial crisis. – Sarah, CO

Lisa, Cindy, and Sarah see the struggles of their patients every day. And by sharing their own experiences, they’re helping Washington see more clearly what’s really at stake as the new Congress begins talking about massive changes to our healthcare system.

What have you seen that Washington needs to hear if they’re going to get healthcare right? Leave a comment below to weigh in!

Final VA APRN Rule Released

  

Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a final rule to permit full practice authority for three out of four recognized roles of VA advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) which include Certified Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) and Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs).  The VA has taken an important step to ensure veterans have access  to the timely, effective and efficient care they have earned.

However, ANA remains concerned with the final rule’s exclusion of  Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNAs), which is solely based on the VA’s belief that there is no evidence of a shortage of anesthesiologists impacting access to care.

ANA  joins our colleagues in advocating for CRNAs to have full practice authority within the VA health care system.

The VA has provided an additional 30-day comment period on full practice authority for CRNAs.

President Obama Signs 21st Century Cures Act

  

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ANA was proud to be in attendance as  was signed into law (represented by Michelle Artz, Director of Government Affairs). Throughout the year ANA advocated for key elements of the legislation including opioid epidemic funding, comprehensive mental health reform, and investments toward curing cancer.

Statement from the White House:

For nearly a year, President Obama has been calling for real resources to address the opioid crisis and ensure that hundreds of thousands of Americans can get the treatment they need. The bipartisan passage of the bill exemplifies the progress we can make when both parties work together to improve the lives of people across the country.

“The Cures Act makes important investments that will save lives. First, for the families and communities that have lost too many loved ones to the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic, it invests the $1 billion I requested in my budget to address this crisis. Second, the bill answers the Vice President’s call for a Moonshot in cancer research by investing $1.8 billion in new resources to accelerate discoveries. Third, it invests nearly $3 billion to build upon the major biomedical research initiatives we have launched in my Administration – known as the BRAIN and Precision Medicine Initiatives – which are tackling diseases like Alzheimer’s and creating new research models to find cures and better target treatments. Fourth, the Cures Act takes important steps to improve mental health, including building on the work of my Administration’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force. And fifth, the legislation advances the progress we’ve made in improving the Food and Drug Administration’s drug development process by, for example, making sure patients’ voices are part of those decisions.

This is a reminder of what we can do when we look out for one another. Like Joe Biden and so many other Americans, I’ve lost people I love deeply to cancer. I’ve heard often from those whose loved ones are suffering from Alzheimer’s, addiction, and other debilitating diseases. Their heartbreak is real, and so we have a responsibility to respond with real solutions. This bill will make a big difference, and I look forward to signing it as soon as it reaches my desk.” President Barack Obama