Capitol Update, brought to you by the American Nurses Association
Capitol Update, a legislative newsletter for nurses
Volume 2|Issue 7 August 30, 2004
Article Photo ANA Hosts Reception and Blood Drive at Democratic Convention
The American Nurses Association (ANA) partnered with the American Red Cross to hold a July 27 reception and community-service blood drive at the Democratic Convention in Boston. The event, titled "Kick Back and Give Back," drew over 50 community volunteers along with hundreds of participants, including Reps. Lois Capps, (D-CA) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), who is pictured in red at left with (from left to right) Karen Ballard, Director of Practice and Governmental Affairs at the New York State Nurses Association; ANA President Barbara Blakeney; and Susan Krupnick, President of the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses.
Medical Errors Reporting Bill Moves Forward

On July 22,2004, the Senate joined the House in passing legislation designed to improve reporting and research on medical errors. The House and Senate are now conferencing their versions of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2003 (S. 720, H.R. 663). Both bills would establish a framework for the voluntary reporting of medical errors to entities known as patient safety organizations (PSOs), and create a national patient safety database within the Department of Health and Human Services to catalog these reports and identify trends in medical mistakes. Whistleblower protections are granted in both bills to protect nurses and other providers from retaliation for good faith reporting of medical errors to the PSOs.
House Offers Small Increase for Nursing Education

On July 14, the House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that would provide a $5 million increase for nursing workforce development programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration. If enacted, this would bring total fiscal year (FY) 2005 funding for Title VIII to $147 million. The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on this bill in mid September. The Senate is expected to delay action on this bill until after the November elections. ANA is asking Congress to provide at least $205 million in FY 2005 funding for Title VIII. ANA maintains that the need for this $63 million increase is borne out by the growing nursing shortage and the inability of current Title VIII funding to meet the demand for nursing programs.
Funding for TB Protection Standard Denied by Committee Vote

Recent Congressional action may put nurses and other healthcare workers at risk from exposure to infectious disease and agents at work. An amendment offered by Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS) to the Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations bill would prohibit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing the respiratory protection standard as it applies to Tuberculosis (TB).

DOL Overtime Rules Take Effect

The Department of Labor's revised regulations regarding overtime went into effect on Monday, August 23. Because of the implications of the revised regulations on registered nurses, this issue has been a priority for ANA, and the organization has been actively involved in lobbying activities during the two-year rule making process and in publicizing the issue to the media and to members.Due to ANA's advocacy efforts, the rule is significantly improved from the initial DOL proposal. However, ANA remains concerned about the impact of the new rules on registered nurses and is currently collecting feedback from nurses. To register a comment or concern, please e-mail overtime@ana.org or call Chris Donnellan at 202-651-7088 or cdonnell@ana.org.
ANA Responds to CMS Proposal to Collect Immigration Data

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is developing a set of standards for the distribution of $250 million a year over four years to defray the costs to hospitals, physicians and others who provide uncompensated care to undocumented immigrants under requirements in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). EMTALA requires providers to stabilize patients regardless of insurance status, immigration status, or ability to pay. The total amount of $1 billion was appropriated under Section 1011 of the 2002 Medicare law (MMA) (Pub.L. No. 108-173).

National Conference of State Legislators Meet in Salt Lake City

The American Nurses Association (ANA) and The Utah Nurses Association (UNA) actively promoted ANA's Nationwide State Legislative Agenda on Nurse Staffing/Shortage at the Annual Meeting of the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), July 19 - 23, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NCSL is a bipartisan organization dedicated to serving the lawmakers and staff of the nation's states, commonwealths and territories.
NCSL provides an open, bipartisan, national forum for lawmakers to share ideas, communicate with one another, and interact with organizations and individuals with specialized expertise on key issues such as health care. ANA has participated in NCSL's annual conference for the last 10 years.
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Washington State Residents and Ombudsman Sue Government Over Feeding Assistants

The National Senior Citizens Law Center has announced that the Resident Councils of Washington and the Washington State Ombudsman Program has filed a suit in federal district court in Seattle charging that the federal government's feeding assistant regulations violate the Nursing Home Reform Act. The regulations, which ANA and other patient advocacy groups objected to in comments filed with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2002, allow nursing homes to use paid workers who do not meet minimum training requirements for nursing services to assist residents with eating. The regulations also allow minimal supervision of feeding assistants and do not prohibit nursing homes from using them to displace certified nursing assistants.
NIOSH Conference:

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will hold a conference titled "Alert on Reducing Occupational Exposures to Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare: Converting Theory to Practice." The conference will take place October 3-5, 2004 in San Antonio, Texas. The purpose of this workshop is to familiarize healthcare professionals with the recently published NIOSH Alert on Hazardous Drugs and to discuss implementation of the recommendations contained in the alert. The target audience includes pharmacy and nursing personnel, health and safety personnel, home healthcare managers, housekeeping personnel, and hospital administration. The ANA actively participated in the workgroup that developed the Alert and strongly advocated for its release. A prepublication copy of the Alert and complete Conference details can be found on the NIOSH web site. For more information, contact Butch de Castro at Bdecastro@ana.org or (202) 651-7138.
Medicare Replacement Drug Demonstration

The Medicare Replacement Drug Demonstration is a new time-limited Medicare demonstration that will cover drugs and biologicals that are prescribed as replacements for existing covered Medicare drugs and biologicals before the Medicare prescription drug program begins in 2006. The demonstration was mandated under Section 641 of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) and will allow up to 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries who have certain life-threatening diseases to obtain specified drugs that they can take themselves at home for their condition. Health care providers are being encouraged to review the list of covered conditions and drugs available under this demonstration and to inform potentially eligible patients about the demonstration project. Beneficiaries can call a toll free number 1-888-563-5386 to request an application or have questions related to the demonstration or need assistance completing the application. The deadline is September 20, 2004 for Medicare beneficiaries to apply to participate in this program.
Illinois Legislature Rejects the DOL Federal Standards for Overtime

In Illinois, a new law has been enacted to nullify any new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) overtime regulations as applied to employees in the state of Illinois. SB 1645, (PA 93-0672), was passed by the Illinois legislature and signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) this spring. The law provides that the overtime rules do not apply to any persons employed in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity, as defined by or covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the rules adopted under that Act, "as both exist on March 30, 2003." Prior to this amendment, Illinois' Minimum Wage Law required employers to determine any overtime exemptions for executive, administrative or professional employees in accordance with the DOL's regulations under the FLSA. The new amendment effectively freezes the interpretation of Illinois' overtime exemption to take into account only the prior FLSA regulations, disregarding any new regulatory proposals to the contrary.
ANA on the Move...No Capitol Update in September

During the month of September, ANA headquarters will relocate to Silver Spring, Maryland. Due to activities associated with the move and the involvement of ANA Government Affairs staff in the 2004 political campaigns, the next edition of Capitol Update will be posted in October. We look forward to keeping you informed on ANA's legislative, regulatory and political campaign activities throughout the rest of the year.
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