Congressional Spotlight

California’s CRNAs Discuss Health Care Reform with Congressional Leaders

Health Care Reform is currently an all-consuming topic of Capitol Hill. Many Congressional leaders came home to California from Washington DC for their summer work periods and took the initiative to host town hall meetings up and down the state. Remarkably, these are some of the most well attended town hall meetings on record for any Congressional representative.

Congressman Dan Lungren of California’s Third District hosted several such meetings in recent weeks, some of which have boasted one thousand or more attendees. On August 27 Scott Minnick CRNA, MS met with Peter Tateishi, Deputy Chief of Staff for Mr. Lungren to follow up on his recent tour of a local hospital and insights gained from the public forums. While visiting Mr. Lungren’s office, Mr. Minnick outlined the roles CRNAs play in the community and how nurse anesthetists help increase access to health care in otherwise unserved or severely underserved areas of Mr. Lungren’s District. Mr. Tateishi was aware of CRNA presence in the facilities he toured and conveyed a positive experience. He is familiar with nurse anesthetists and our value in reducing health care costs regardless what Americans ultimately decide is the best avenue of health care reform. He also shared how the town hall meetings taking place in the Third District are bringing to light interesting results: constituents who voiced their opinions regarding health care were nearly equally divided on viewpoints either for or against the implementation of a government-run health plan.

Virtually all health care models presented thus far to Congress and the Obama Administration have a place for nurse anesthetists to make a difference in slowing national health expenditures over time. Members of Congress look to their constituents for expert guidance in matters unfamiliar to them. Health care is our business and our responsibility to inform our Federal representatives about who we are and what value we bring to health care reform. Mr. Minnick’s volunteerism in meeting with his Congressman and staff was on behalf of CRNAs across the country when he delivered this important information to Mr. Tateishi. Both CANA’s Board of Directors and AANA Federal Government Affairs Office are grateful for his contribution and extend genuine thanks.

If you are interested in visiting your Congressional office or becoming a key contact for your District, please email Lisa Haas, Federal Government Relations Chair at CANAgov@canainc.org. Getting involved is the first step in benefiting our fellow Americans and communities.
 

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An Evening With Congresswoman Lois Capps, RN
by Malina Maneevone - Nurse Anesthesia Resident Samuel Merritt University

During our morning Midyear Assembly “board meeting” with California’s CRNA representatives I was lucky enough to rochambeau my way into an extra ticket to Congresswoman Lois Capps’ fundraising dinner. Ms. Capps is an RN and represents District 23, the Central Coast. Our monetary contribution was not only a way of saying “thank you” to the Congresswoman, but also a way to connect with her office and bring a face to CRNAs.

Ms. Capps started as a school nurse and has a long history of supporting nurses and advanced practice nurse’s legislation. Most recently she introduced HR 756, a bill which has moved surprisingly fast through the House and is now in the Senate, focused on community access issues to cancer care, specifically pain care. To be honest, I was nervous. It was a small dinner (30 people or so) and what was I going to say? To my relief it turned out to be much easier than I had built it up to be. Lisa Haas, CRNA and I sat with Ms. Capps’ Chief of Staff Randolph Harrison. I just talked about who I was, a student at Samuel Merritt University, and (without lobbying) talked about what I look forward to in my career. Lisa was able to make a connection with Mr. Harrison in their recent cycling treks. In her welcome address that evening Congresswoman Capps specifically endorsed the role of APNs in the expansion of healthcare. When we met Ms. Capps after a fabulous meal, it was encouraging to hear her say, “It is an exciting time for us (nurses)”.

I learned that at fundraisers you are not actually allowed to “lobby your agenda.” The idea is to build a personal connection with the office staff so when legislation for CRNAs crosses their desk they have a face from their district to put with the title CRNA and someone they can call if they have questions about APN issues. It is so important to meet our representatives face to face or at least a phone call/letter/email to the office. They are bombarded with lobbyists but they are truly interested in the thoughts of their constituents. If you haven’t already please look on the AANA site, find your representative, and reach out. This is a pivotal year for healthcare and we must make our voice known. After three days of visiting members of Congress and their representatives discussing the imminent changes in healthcare it is assuring to know we have a friend on the Hill.