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Advocacy Updates!
State Government Affairs
State Update Quarterly
August 2021
August 2021 State Update – Now Available
The August 2021 State Update is now posted for all AANA members. Log in now for the latest on significant legislative and regulatory issues affecting CRNAs in the states. Find the status and full text of any state legislation in the State Update in our interactive state legislative tracking map.
20 Years of Opt-Out
In 2001, CMS (then HCFA) implemented the opt-out from federal supervision. Here’s the progress our state associations have made in removing state supervision requirements and obtaining the opt-out since that rule took effect.
2001/2002
2011
2021
*Colorado opt-out applies to rural/CAH hospitals only
Is Your State Association Ready for the 2022 Legislative Session?
Now’s the time to prepare for 2022! SGA staff are meeting with states to discuss strategy and resources to support your ongoing efforts in 2021 and in the upcoming 2022 legislative session – contact [email protected] with any questions or to schedule a time to discuss your issues.
Take advantage of the many State Government Affairs resources that will prepare your state association for legislative success in the upcoming session, including:
- State Advocacy Resources home page
- 2021-2022 State Legislative & Regulatory Agenda
- AA Resources and Tool Kit
- Prescriptive Authority Tool Kit
- Legislative Readiness Assessment
- State Maps Showing CRNA and MDA Geographic Distribution as Anesthesia Providers
LD: 254
Author: Perry (D)
Title: Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
Introduced: 01/27/2021
Disposition: Pending
Location: Joint Committee on Health Coverage Insurance and Financial Services
Summary: Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for services provided by certified registered nurse anesthetists if those services are within a certified registered nurse anesthetist’s scope of practice and are covered services under a health plan; makes the requirement applicable to policies, contracts and certificates executed, issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023.
Status:
01/27/2021 INTRODUCED.
01/27/2021 Filed as LR 399.
01/27/2021 HOUSE refers to JOINT Committee on HEALTH COVERAGE, INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES.
AANA Impact: Important
Issue: Reimbursement
Priority: High
Public Hearing: February 18, 2021 ( No opposition given!)
130th Legislature sworn in
The 130th Legislature was sworn into office on December 2, with reminders of the COVID-19 pandemic everywhere.
To begin with, lawmakers assembled, not at the State House, but at the Augusta Civic Center in order to facilitate social distancing.
And the oath wasn’t administered by Governor Janet Mills, who is quarantining after a member of her security detail was diagnosed with COVID-19, but by the interim-chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court, Andrew Mead.
Democrats continue to control both chambers of the Legislature, albeit by slightly different majorities. In the state Senate, Democrats picked up one seat to have a 22 to 13 majority. In the House, the Democrats lost several seats, which narrowed their lead to 80 to 67.
The leadership is as follows:
House Democrats:
Speaker: Ryan Fecteau (Biddeford)
Majority Leader: Michelle Dunphy (Old Town)
Assistant Majority Leader: Rachel Talbot Ross (Portland)
House Republicans:
Minority Leader: Kathleen Dillingham (Oxford)
Assistant Minority Leader: Joel Stetkis (Canaan)
Senate Democrats:
President: Troy Jackson (Aroostook County)
Majority Leader: Nate Libby (Androscoggin County)
Assistant Majority Leader: Eloise Vitelli (Sagadahoc County)
Senate Republicans:
Majority Leader: Jeff Timberlake (Androscoggin County)
Assistant Majority Leader: Matt Pouliot (Kennebec County)
Setting the Record Straight: CRNA Anesthesia Care is No “Risky Gamble”
In a new campaign, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is claiming that “swapping nurses for physicians in surgery” puts the patient at risk. The AANA has issued a strong response, stating: “This type of fearmongering has no place in healthcare today.”
In the statement published November 5, the AANA proclaimed that CRNAs “are saving patients’ lives across the country, in every setting, even as special interest groups try to disparage their experience, education, and training. CRNAs have a sterling safety record, yet these groups continue to spread the same disinformation. You have probably heard it all—that allowing CRNAs to work without supervision puts patients at risk; that CRNAs provide a lower quality of care; that unless a physician is providing anesthesia, it’s a ‘risky gamble.’”
Read the full statement, which debunks the ASA misinformation campaign and lays out the case for the safety and quality care CRNAs provide.
AANA Rebuts AMA #StopScopeCreep Campaign
The AANA is fighting back against a campaign by the American Medical Association aimed at limiting the practice of nonphysician providers. Using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, the AANA says to the AMA: “Fighting over healthcare market share is the last thing you should be doing right now. As our nation continues to grapple with the worst healthcare crisis in a hundred years, CRNAs are in it to save lives, not fight a turf war. Do better, American Medical Association (AMA).”
Learn about AANA Advocacy Efforts for FREE!
It’s not too late to register for the AANA Virtual Leadership Summit, to be held November 14-15. This year’s Leadership Summit went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers free live programming on topics of critical importance to the nurse anesthesia community such as:
- Leading in Times of Crisis
- Examining the Components of Servant and Ethical Leadership with Real World Applicability During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Just Breathe: Leadership Through an N95 Mask
- COVID-19 Executive Orders: Turning Temporary Removal of Restrictions into Permanent Advocacy Strategy
The only way to learn is LIVE ONLINE. Our 2020 Leadership Summit programming won’t be recorded or repeated.
How can we advocate for you? Tell us what you need on the AANA Advocating for You page.