Federal Issues

Advanced Practice Medicaid Reimbursement
Urge your Members of Congress to expand Medicaid coverage of services provided by advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
As millions of people have lost their jobs, millions have lost their health insurance.  Those that remain covered are paying more for less.  Unrelenting healthcare costs are burdening business, state governments, and our economy.  The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is part of the Presidents’ commitment to make health care affordable for all Americans. 

APRNs and FECA
Contact your Congressional delegation and tell them to recognize all Advanced Practice RNs as providers under the Federal Employee Compensation Program (FECA).

Association Health Plans
ANA opposes association health plans (AHPs), which will remove guarantees of access to APRNs and will harm consumers. 

Funding for Workforce Development
ANA is working to convince Congress to significantly increase funding for the Nursing Workforce Development programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. ANA is asking for $215 million in fiscal year (FY) 2010, which would be an increase of $44 million.

Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act
The House bill contains a $15 million increase in Title VIII nursing workforce development programs.

Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act
Educate your Representative about the problems associated with the Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act. 

House Nursing Caucus
Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) and Congressman Steve LaTourette (R-OH) have come together to form a Nurse Caucus in the House. This Caucus will provide an excellent, non-partisan forum for the discussion of issues that impact the nursing profession, and will help members of Congress who care these issues come together to address them.

Immigration and the Nurse Workforce
ANA opposes the Rural and Urban Health Care Act of 2005 (H.R. 248) which would weaken current certification requirements for nurses educated in foreign schools of nursing. Congress should focus on programs that recruit and retain American nurses in patient care, instead of looking overseas for a risky quick-fix to the nursing shortage.

Mandatory Overtime
Nurses across the nation are reporting a dramatic increase in the use of mandatory overtime as a staffing tool. This dangerous staffing practice is having a negative impact on patient care, fostering medical errors, and driving nurses away from the bedside.

Medicaid Cuts
ANA supports a Medicaid Program that provides coverage based on federal standards that ensures access for poor and special needs populations. ANA maintains that any savings realized from the restructuring of Medicaid must be reinvested in the expansion of coverage and benefits.

Nurse Reinvestment Act Background
On August 1, 2002 President George W. Bush signed the Nurse Reinvestment Act into law. The American Nurses Association (ANA) fought for passage of the act, which addresses the nursing shortage by authorizing important recruitment and retention initiatives.

Nurse Staffing
ANA supports the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act, which would hold hospitals accountable for the development of valid, reliable unit-by-unit nurse staffing plans.  These plans would be developed in coordination with direct care registered nurses (RNs) and based on each unit’s unique characteristics and needs.  The bill also provides for public reporting of staffing information, and includes whistle-blower protections for RNs and others who may file a complaint regarding staffing.

Overtime Pay Regulations
On August 23, 2004 a new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rule that threatens the rights of Registered Nurses to receive overtime compensation went into effect. Learn more about the rule and it's potential impact on RNs.

Safe Patient Handling and Movement
ANA supports actions and policies that result in the elimination of manual patient handling. Patient handling, such as lifting, repositioning and transferring has conventionally been performed by nurses. A Safe Patient Handling and Movement (SPHM) program decreases injuries to nurses, other healthcare workers and patients, while reducing work-related healthcare costs and improving the safety of patient care delivery.