New from the national scene that impacts all of us!
Posted almost 11 years ago by James F. Lawrence
As Members of Congress continue their August district work period and plan to spend much of fall in their districts, they will be spending their time taking the pulse of the constituents they represent. This provides NPs with an opportunity to influence policy and the future of NP practice by ensuring NPs are meeting with their Members of Congress at home. Moving forward, AANP has set a goal in which every Member of Congress meets with an APRN between now and Election Day
UAPRN Georgia and AANP encourage you to focus on the following AANP priorities during your meetings:
- Home Health
- Durable Medical Equipment
- Veterans Affairs
- Medicaid Reimbursement Incentive
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Have Your Members of Congress Heard from You?
AANP thanks all of you who have taken the time to contact your Members of Congress and have shared the links (see below) with other individuals and organizations that support removing federal barriers to practice for all APRNs. We are delighted to tell you that more than 24,000 letters have been sent since the first of this year! Policy makers must continue to be educated regarding the benefits APRNs bring to the American health care system. Please keep these issues on their minds by continuing to send letters to your Members of Congress. We also ask that as you send your letters, you add to them your personal stories regarding how these federal barriers impact your practice. Please make sure that you sign your letters to Members of Congress by adding your name to the form on the website.
Support for legislation to allow NPs to certify their patients need for Home Health
Support for legislation that would authorize NPs to document face-to-face encounters with their Medicare patients to assess the need to order all DME
Support legislation that would extend the current program which aligns Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services with Medicare reimbursement rates and ensures that all NPs are eligible
Support the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) plan to recognize NPs ability to practice to their full scope throughout the VHA system
Ask VA Secretary Robert McDonald to support and implement the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) plan to recognize NPs' abilities to practice to their full scope throughout the VHA system _________________________________________________________________
Lastly, as we had predicted here in Georgia, our strongest opioid that we have been able to prescribe for pain management will no longer be available to us! Please, please, please this is one way that we can turn a negative into a positive by now working with UAPRN Georgia and CAPRN in presenting to our state legislators APRNs in Georgia inability to prescribe any effective opioid in managing pain, thus, requiring it now manditory to have Schedule II prescriptive authority in our state!
Hydrocodone Rescheduling
The DEA announced last week that all hydrocodone products will become Schedule II agents in 45 days. Read the final rule. This move will impact patients in all states who require hydrocodone combination products, and it will have additional impact in nine states and US territories where NPs are not currently authorized to prescribe Schedule II agents. Once the change takes effect, all hydrocodone prescriptions will be limited to an initial 90-day supply, require written prescriptions, and meet other Schedule II requirements. AANP and other stakeholder groups raised patient care concerns during rescheduling conversations at the federal level over the past two years while this change was being considered. The AANP state staff is already working with several states to address access to care challenges and mitigate patient impact
James F. Lawrenc, Ph.D. APRN BC CPS CHPN FAANP
UAPRN State President