Government Affairs Committee
Purpose
Purpose
- To enhance the professional practice of emergency nursing through a focus on public advocacy, education, leadership, consultation, legislation and illness/injury prevention.
Contact Info
- Information coming soon
Important New on the EMSC Legislation
ENA received word late this afternoon that the Wakefield Act -- H.R. 479 -- will be marked up by the House Committee on Energy & Commerce on Wednesday, March 4, starting at 10 a.m. (EST). This bill seeks to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program.
We need to build cosponsorship of this bill now since cosponsors cannot be added after a committee reports a bill. The more cosponsors we have, the greater the likelihood for passage when it comes to the House floor for a vote.
As the only federal program dedicated to improving emergency care for children, the EMSC program has enabled the development of vital guidelines for care, transfer protocols among facilities, systemic improvements, and training and education. In some states, the program provides the sole funds dedicated to pediatric emergency concerns at the systemic level. It is no coincidence that since the EMSC program was established, death rates due to pediatric injury have dropped by an astounding 40 percent.
ACTION REQUIRED:
It is critical that anyone who wants to see the continuation of the EMSC program contact his/her REPRESENTATIVE before 10:00 a.m. (EST), Wednesday, March 4, 2009. Urge him/her to cosponsor H.R. 479, the Wakefield Act, reauthorizing the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program.
Because of the short turnaround time, calling your REPRESENTATIVE would have the most impact. Since it is unlikely that you will be able to talk to your Member of Congress directly, ask for the Legislative Director or the Health LA. Talking points to call or e-mail can be found at ENA's Legislative Action Center. CLICK HERE.
Important News From ENA 411
- ENA 411 is an e mail alert message sent out to inform ENA members of important issues which are occuring at the government level.
EN411 Capitol BriefFebruary 28, 2009EN411 Ribbons
For those of you who will be at Leadership in Reno, don't forget to pick up your EN411 ribbon. They will be available in the registration area as well as at the Government Affairs booth at the ENA Resource Center in the Exhibit area.EN411 Conference CallThe next conference call for ENA's Key Contacts to address questions and conerns, report on successes, and stimulate contact between the Key Contact and her/his Member of Congress is scheduled for- Monday - March 23 or Wednesday - March 25, 2009
Pick one of the two days to join us for the quarterly "EN411 Conference Call."- Time: 2:00 p.m. (EDT), 1:00 p.m. (CST), 12 Noon (MST); 11:00 a.m. (PST)
- Number: 800-377-8846
- Passcode: 91155107#
An agenda will be sent to you closer to the time of the call.Advocacy Tip - Do Say Thank YouWhether you are following up after a personal visit or thanking a member for fighting in committee for one small provision that was important to you, it is always nice to recognize another's efforts. Legislators and their staff work hard, and most have great intentions, so your sincere thanks is appreciated. It is often easier to "spank" than say "thanks" and unfortunately Legislators and their staff are not thanked enough. With the recent funding increases for the HRSA Title VIII Nursing Workforce programs in both the economic stimulus bill and the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill, please take a few moments to thank your Legislators. To send an e-mail to your Legislator, please visit ENA's Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/ena/home/.Town Hall MeetingsAttending a town hall meeting is an excellent way to bring ENA priority issues to their attention. For a list of upcoming Congressional town meetings for the month of March, please click here.Title VIII Nursing Workforce Programs Receive 9.6% Funding Increase in FY 2009With work on the economic stimulus bill completed, Congress now turns to completing the fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriations process. The Omnibus Appropriations bill consists of the nine FY 2009 appropriations bills that mostly fund domestic agencies including funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Congressional Democratic Leadership chose not to finish the bills until former President Bush left office, because he threatened to veto them over their funding levels. The bill would provide increases for a variety of programs - from education to infrastructure to scientific research - that Democrats say were underfunded during the Bush administration as it sought to clamp down on non-security domestic spending.Included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill is $171.031 million for the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This is almost $15 million (a 9.6% increase) above the FY 2008 funding level of $156.046 million. ENA supported a funding level of $200 million in FY 2009 for these important programs.NEJM Perspective Discusses Need for Universal Health CoverageIn the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the article "Universal Health Insurance Coverage or Economic Relief -- a False Choice" discusses skepticism that the United States can foot the bill for universal coverage in such economically trying times. Article author and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of economics Jonathan Gruber writes that "now is exactly the right time for universal coverage, because it can play such an important role in growing our economy, while enabling us to shift the focus of health policy discussions to approaches for addressing our largest long-term fiscal challenge: escalating health care costs." According to Gruber, universal coverage, in a sense, is "central" to efforts to address costs "because squaring away a baseline level of coverage will allow policymakers to focus their energies on cost control".Information from this report provides rich opportunities for key contacts. Busy legislators and their health legislative assistants welcome receiving information from experts, especially experts such as their own EN411 key contact. To view and download this report, please visit http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/5/437?query=TOC.EN411 Capitol BriefFebruary 15, 2009Advocacy Tip - Responding to Action Alerts Many thanks to all of you who contacted their congressional delegations recently. You succeeded in getting $500 million restored to the stimulus package - H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - including funds for the Title VIII - Nurse Workforce Development Programs. Responding to Action Alerts is an important advocacy tool to ensure that your voice is heard on ENA priority issues. Congressional Members count on the opinions of their constituents when deciding the final outcome of legislation or in this case whether to restore funding for important programs. Because of your response to ENA's Action Alert, the nursing community was successful in getting the funding restored.
Town Hall MeetingsAttending a town hall meeting is an excellent way to bring ENA priority issues to their attention. For a list of upcoming Congressional town meetings for the month of February, please click here.Congress Restores Funding to Nursing Programs in Economic Stimulus Package During the debate over the economic recovery package in the Senate, all funding for the Title VIII Nurse Workforce Development Programs was stripped out of the Senate version of the economic recovery bill. Senate moderates -- whose votes were needed to pass the recovery bill -- argued that these dollars did not create jobs and did not belong in the legislation. The nursing community argued vociferously against that assertion, concerned that eliminating this funding would further exacerbate the nursing shortage.In response to communications from ENA and the nursing community, the House and Senate restored $500 million for the Title VIII Nurse Workforce Development Programs in the final stimulus package - H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The conference report states:The conference agreement provides $500,000,000 for health professions training programs instead of $600,000,000 as proposed by the House. Within this total, $300,000,000 is allocated for National Health Service Corps (NHSC) recruitment and field activities, with $75,000,000 available through September 30, 2011 for extending service contracts and the recapture and reallocation of funds in the event that a participant fails to fulfill his or her term of service. Twenty percent of the NHSC funding shall be used for field operations.The remaining $200,000,000 is allocated for all the disciplines trained through the primary care medicine and dentistry program, the public health and preventive medicine program, the scholarship and loan repayment programs authorized in Title VII (Health Professions) and Title VIII (Nurse Training) of the PHS Act, and grants to training programs for equipment. Funds may also be used to foster cross-State licensing agreements for health care specialists.The Stimulus Package passed the House and the Senate and has been sent to President Obama for his signature. The Senate approved the measure60-38 with three GOP moderates providing crucial support. Hours earlier, the House vote was 246-183. Not a single House Republican backed the package.
Government Upate Newsletter from ENA
Attached below are regular update newsletters that are put out by the legislative office of ENA in Washington DC. They post regular updates of all Goverment issues that are important to emergency nurses.
