Champion Nursing E-News Alert: Nurses Play Critical Role in New Health Care Reform Package

Abstract

Editor's Note: Letter from Susan Reinhard and Brenda Cleary

Dear Colleagues:

Today, President Obama signed a package of health care reforms that will bring needed relief to millions of Americans struggling with the high cost of prescription drugs and health coverage.  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 will close Medicare’s prescription drug coverage gap for  everyone in the program and make insurance more affordable for more American families.

Moreover, this new law identifies nurses as critical players in meeting the changing health care needs of Americans.

The Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration Program aims to increase the number of highly skilled advanced practice nurses available to care for Americans by providing $200 million to bolster the training of these key health care professionals. This program lays the foundation to transform the way Medicare pays for nursing education, targeting dollars toward educating nurses with the specific skills needed to meet the needs of Medicare recipients. Advanced practice nurses can provide the primary and preventive care, chronic care management, and care coordination necessary to reduce waste and bring down costs while increasing access and quality.

The Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration Program would not be possible without the tireless efforts of our colleagues at AARP and leading nursing organizations, including:

• American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing
• American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
• American College of Nurse Practitioners
• American College of Nurse-Midwives
• American Organization of Nurse Executives
• American Nurses Association
• National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• National League for Nursing 
• National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties

Thank you for your hard work and continued collaboration to ensure this important component of health care reform was included in the final package.

The new law includes several other provisions designed to improve quality of care through nursing and build a 21st century nursing workforce, including:

• Providing $150 million in additional support through the National Health Service Corps for nurse practitioners who agree to serve at least two years in underserved communities across the country.
• Expanding loan-forgiveness programs for nurses who agree to teach in accredited nursing schools.
• Bolstering the training of future nursing professors by lifting an arbitrary cap limiting spending on doctoral nursing programs to 10 percent of total grant funding awarded for expanding nursing education programs.
• Reauthorizing funding for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs.
• Authorizing funding for the development of nurse-managed health centers.
• Providing $500 million for a five-year Medicare Community Care Transitions Program for hospitals with high readmission rates and/or that provide care for underserved populations in partnership with community-based organizations.
• Providing a demonstration program for the Family Nurse Practitioner Training Program, a one-year residency program for nurse practitioners in federally qualified health centers and in nurse-managed health clinics.
• Providing $1.5 billion over five years for an evidence-based home visiting program for at-risk families.

With renewed energy, the Center to Champion Nursing in America now looks toward the future. We welcome the opportunity to work with you and fulfill our mission to ensure all Americans have a highly-skilled nurse when and where they need one.