The Improving Care and Access to Nurses Act Addresses Patient
Care in Rural and Underserved Areas
ROSEMONT, Ill., May 14, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- During a congressional briefing today, leaders from
American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), along with
associations representing other advanced practice registered nurses
(APRNs), outlined how current Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) billing and care restrictions are out of line with
many state laws and briefed on a current legislative solution to
address these outdated barriers.
The Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act (H.R. 2713/S.
2418) would eliminate practice barriers for Certified Registered
Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and other APRNs and provide more
equitable care throughout the country, especially to patients in
rural and other underserved regions. The ICAN Act will help to
ensure that Medicare and Medicaid patients have access to the
services that they need from their provider of choice.
AANA supports this legislation, which will remove physician
supervision of CRNAs, also known as nurse anesthesiologists or
nurse anesthetists and increase access to CRNA services for
Medicaid patients.
"The quality of patient care should not depend on a patient's
zip code," said AANA President Dru
Riddle, PhD, DNP, CRNA, FAAN. "As the only anesthesia
providers in most rural hospitals and the
predominant providers in underserved communities, CRNAs play
an essential role in maintaining access to healthcare in
communities across the country. This critical legislation will help
ensure that everyone who needs access to the high-quality care
provided by advanced practice registered nurses such as CRNAs can
receive that care where and when they need it most."
Specifically, the ICAN Act will ensure proper reimbursement for
CRNAs to provide quality anesthesia and pain management for
Medicare patients, allow CRNAs to order and refer medically
necessary services, permanently remove unnecessary physician
supervision under Medicare, promote payment parity in the teaching
rules, and provide access to CRNA services in Medicaid.
CRNAs, as advanced practice registered nurses, are members of
one of the most trusted professions according to Gallup. CRNAs
safely administer more than 50 million anesthetics to patients each
year in the U.S in every setting where anesthesia is delivered,
including hospital surgical suites, offices of dentists,
podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain
management specialists — plus U.S. military, Public Health
Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare
facilities.
When anesthesia delivery is staffed and directed by CRNAs,
costly duplication of services is avoided. This can help healthcare
facilities use limited resources to further improve patient care.
"CRNAs deliver the same high-quality care to patients as other
anesthesia providers and serve under-resourced communities at a
significantly reduced cost. It is clear why removing barriers to
CRNA care is not just beneficial but essential," said Riddle.
For more information about the ICAN Act and to urge your
representative to support this legislation, visit AnesthesiaFacts
.com/takeaction
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SOURCE American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology