Capitol Update, brought to you by the American Nurses Association
Capitol Update, a legislative newsletter for nurses
Volume 5/Issue 5 May 31, 2007
Article Photo ANA Hosts Congressional Briefing

The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Congressional Nursing Caucus cosponsored a Congressional luncheon briefing on Tuesday, May 8th to highlight the importance of safe patient handling and movement. The briefing, held during National Nurses Week, was designed to educate Congressional staff and health care representatives about the dangers of manual patient lifting and repositioning. Representative Lois Capps, RN (D-CA), pictured here, welcomed the crowded room of more than 60 attendees. Rep. Capps explained the history of National Nurses Week and the Congressional Nursing Caucus. She also highlighted the need to promote safe patient lifting programs as a means to address the nursing shortage.
Bill to Protect Nurses From Mandatory Overtime Reintroduced in the House

The Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act, a bill which would prohibit the use of mandatory overtime as a staffing tool, has been reintroduced in the House for the 110th Congress. Reps. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH) again took the lead in sponsoring the bill, H.R. 2122, which has 4 additional co-sponsors to date.
ANA Endorses Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Equity Act

After careful consideration, ANA sent a letter to the House of Representatives on April 20, 2007 endorsing the Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Equity Act of 2007 (H.R. 864). This bill would increase Medicare reimbursement for certified nurse midwives and would, for the first time, require Medicare to recognize certified midwives.
House Education and Labor Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Classification of Nurses as Supervisors

On May 8, the House Education and Labor Committee subcommittee on Health Employment, Labor and Pensions held a hearing titled "Are NLRB and Court Rulings Misclassifying Skilled and Professional Employees as Supervisors?" The hearing, which explored the recent NLRB "Kentucky River" decisions and the changes to labor law proposed in H.R. 1644, was well attended by nurses, who at times were vocal, unofficial, participants in the dialogue.

CMS Pushes for Value Driven Care in Proposed Rules for Hospitals

The proposed rule to update the hospital inpatient prospective payment system for fiscal year 2008 incorporates CMS' commitment to value based health care services. The proposed rule continues changes begun last year to refine the current DRG payment system to improve the accuracy of Medicare payment for inpatient stays while providing additional incentives for hospitals to engage in quality improvement efforts. In addition, the rule includes provisions to ensure that Medicare no longer pays hospitals additional costs for hospital-acquired conditions including infections and an expanded list of publicly reported quality measures.

Legislating the HPV Vaccine

Since the introduction of the first cervical cancer vaccine (Gardasil), there has been a flurry of legislative activity within 39 states plus the District of Columbia. Many of these bills would mandate vaccination of girls as a requirement for re-entry into school. Legislative approaches have not been without debate. The dissent has largely resulted from the failure to acknowledge parents' right to refuse the mandated immunization, while conservatives have expressed that massive immunization may encourage sexual promiscuity. Other concerns include covering the cost of the immunizations and questions as to the vaccine's safety and efficacy given the limited number of participants studied (just under 12,000). Following recommendations by ANA's Committee on Legislation, the ANA Board of Directors adopted a set of principles for states to use when determining the best regulatory and / or legislative approach in addressing immunization for HPV.
copyright 2007, American Nurses Association
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Lessons in Grassroots Advocacy

Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill once wrote that "all politics is local." By this, he meant that even the most complicated political issues must be rooted in principles back home in the district. Politicians who ignore this creed risk becoming ex-politicians.

States Seeking Safe Patient Handling Legislation

On April 10th, Maryland's Governor, Martin O'Malley (D), signed into law "safe patient handling" legislation, requiring hospitals to establish a safe patient lifting committee with an equal number of managers and employees on or before December 1, 2007. The law requires the committee to establish a safe patient lifting policy on or before July 1, 2008.
Certified Medication Assistants

The April, 2007 issue of Capitol Update's article on "Legislating Assistive Personnel to Administer Medications" identified states in which legislation to authorize assistive personnel to administer medications is currently pending, while noting those known states in which the practice is currently permitted through statute or regulations. Thanks in part, to responses from constituent member associations, the list has been updated. The resulting list now at eighteen states includes: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington, Virginia and West Virginia.
GAO Nursing Workforce Report says HHS Needs Methodology to Identify Facilities with a Critical Shortage of Nurses

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on the nursing workforce. The report provides information on changes in the numbers of employed registered nurses since 2000, both nationally and across the states. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of RNs employed in the U.S. grew by 10 percent, with a total of 2.4 million RNs in 2004. However, there is no data available for estimating the magnitude of changes in the shortage of RNs over this time period.
Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog Launched

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog, a five-week-long blog about pandemic preparedness. Participant bloggers include some of the nation's most influential business, health care, faith-based and community leaders including ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR. This online event is part of a new campaign to help Americans prepare for a potential influenza pandemic and engage U.S. leaders in the challenge to help others prepare.
Nominations Open for 2007 Innovation in Prevention Awards

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks nominations of public and private sector organizations to receive the 2007 Innovation in Prevention Awards. The Awards recognize and celebrate outstanding organizations that have implemented innovative and creative chronic disease prevention and health promotion programs.