 2003 AJN Table of Contents
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Washington Watch
American Journal of Nursing -
January, 2003 - Volume 103, Issue 1
Debate Intensifies over Health Care Issues
The ANA will monitor several proposals closely in the 108th Congress.
With Republicans now controlling Congress, more challenges are expected regarding nursing and health care issues, which Democrats have traditionally supported. Congress is expected to consider several bills that address health care issues in this session, and the ANA is working closely with key lawmakers to ensure that nursing’s concerns are addressed.
Prescription Drug Coverage
Both parties have prioritized prescription drug coverage for seniors. Last year, Senator Charles Grassley (D-IA) joined fellow Senate Finance Committee members John Breaux (D-LA) and James Jeffords (I-VT) to sponsor the 21st Century Medicare Act (S 2), which would have offered Medicare participants a drug benefit through private insurers. This bill will be introduced again this year along with a new version of a House bill, the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act (HR 4954), passed
last year.
The ANA supports a prescription drug benefit as long as it is available to everyone, regardless of income. The ANA will track the progress of the legislation to ensure these criteria are met.
Patients’ Bill of Rights
While Congress is expected to take some sort of action on Patients’ Bill of Rights legislation, the ANA is lobbying against bills being considered that would continue to tighten caps on how much patients could win in lawsuits against insurers. The ANA is pleased, however, that the latest versions of the Patients’ Bill of Rights contain the whistle-blower provision for which the ANA had fought in earlier versions to protect nurses who speak out about unsafe patient care. “Our message has not changed in the three years that a federal Patients’ Bill of Rights has been debated,” ANA president Barbara Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, APN, says. “Any protections enacted on behalf of patients must include a whistle-blower provision that protects nurses and other health care professionals from retaliation when they advocate for their patients.”
Patient Safety
The ANA also will push to include whistle-blower protections in legislation that will be reintroduced this year that addresses medical errors and patient safety. Originally introduced by Representative Nancy Johnson (R-CT) in 2001, the Patient Safety and Improvement Act of 2002 was passed in the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees, but was not voted on before Congress adjourned. In testimony on the proposed legislation last September, the ANA made it clear that in order to address medical errors and patient safety, the bill must include whistle-blower protections that enable nurses to function as effective patient advocates.
In addition, the ANA supports a provision of the bill to create a Center for Patient Safety within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and calls for the center to find ways to reduce the likelihood of medical errors and eliminate mandatory overtime. The ANA also called for mandatory reporting of patient safety data rather than the bill’s emphasis on voluntary reporting.
The ANA will work with representative Johnson as she reintroduces the bill and will continue to push for mandatory reporting, consideration of nurse staffing issues, and whistle-blower protections in the legislation.
Universal Health Coverage
The ANA’s decade-plus fight for universal health coverage will continue in the 108th Congress when Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) reintroduces the Health Care for Working Families Act
(S 2639). Originally introduced in late 2002, the bill would require companies with 100 or more
employees to provide health insurance for employees and dependents. This measure would ensure coverage for one-third of the 40 million workers currently uninsured.
Republicans are expected to counter with a proposal that advocates tax credits to help the uninsured pay for private coverage. The ANA opposes this proposal because it believes low-income people would have difficulty paying for the insurance up front and may not be reimbursed since they pay few taxes.
Christopher Donnellan is an associate director in the ANA’s Department of Government Affairs.
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