FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2001
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ANA Joins Coalition in Rally for Patients' Rights
Washington, DC -- The American Nurses Association (ANA) today joined a coalition for patients' rights in a rally on the west side of the Capitol in support of strong patients’ rights legislation.
ANA President Mary Foley, MS, RN, spoke along with coalition members, senators and other health care and consumer leaders supporting the patients' rights legislation introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), John Edwards (D-NC) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA). ANA believes every individual should have access to health care services along the full continuum of care and be an empowered partner in making health care decisions. The association has been very active in pushing for strong, comprehensive and enforceable patient protection legislation.
"A true patients' bill of rights must provide for a strong, enforceable and independent appeals process, and health plans must be accountable for their decisions," Foley said. Foley also noted that nurses must be able to advocate for their patients’ health and safety without fear of retaliation.
Also parked outside the Capitol was an ambulance with a huge digital counter mounted on top that displayed the number of people who have experienced – and are still suffering – delays or denials in medical care since President Bush took office. By the end of the rally, the counter displayed over 7.5 million people.
"The heart of the nursing profession is patient advocacy," said Foley. "Today nurses stand firmly with their patients and say: No more delay, no more denial! Now is the time for making patients’ rights a reality."
Earlier Foley participated in another Capitol Hill event unveiling a television advertising campaign featuring the father of a sick child who experienced first-hand the frustrating and possibly life-threatening repercussions of denied health care. The father, Dylan Malone, also spoke at the coalition rally. The advertising campaign, which supports the McCain-Kennedy-Edwards bill, will begin airing on Friday, June 22, 2001.
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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its constituent member state nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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