White House Senior Officials Hold Call for ANA Members

On Friday, August 19th, White House senior staff held a conference call exclusively for ANA members and organizational affiliates to discuss health care reform strategies.  White House participants included Nancy-Ann DeParle, the director of the White House Office of Health Reform, senior advisor to the president Valerie Jarrett, Tina Tchen, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, and White House Communications official David Simas.

White House officials stressed the important role nurses can play in advocating for health care reform.  As health care providers on the front line, nurses see the need for true reform now.  As health care reform dominates the airwaves, many watching the news are confronted with myths, misrepresentations and outright lies.  It is up to nurses, as the most trusted profession, to help educate patients about what is truly included in the health care reform bills being considered in Congress.  (To read ANA’s “Myth vs. Fact” document on health care reform, please click here.) 

On the call, White House staff encouraged nurses to share their personal stories about how the current health care system has failed them, and more importantly, their patients.  They also discussed a few of the main components to health care reform that must be included in any health care reform bill, including no discrimination against pre-existing conditions, reduction of out-of-pocket expenses, and a focus on preventative care.

Nearly 1,000 nurses registered to participate in this call -- the first ever call with Obama White House officials, exclusively for members of the ANA and its organizational affiliates.  Members were allowed to ask questions and the White House senior staff spent nearly an hour with ANA members. 

You can share your personal story with ANA by joining our Health Care Reform Team: www.rnaction.org/healthcare. 

Hilary Hansen