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	<title>Capitol Update</title>
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	<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org</link>
	<description>ANA Government Affairs&#039; free, online legislative and political newsletter on issues that impact nurses.</description>
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		<title>The Omni-bus, Mega-bus, Mini-bus and Continuing Resolutions&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/the-omni-bus-mega-bus-mini-bus-and-continuing-resolutions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/the-omni-bus-mega-bus-mini-bus-and-continuing-resolutions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Continuing Resolution (CR)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[House Appropriations Bill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labor-HHS Budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Omnibus Appropriations Bill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2489</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the last months of 2011, Congress worked diligently to pass the various legislative initiatives; going by the names of mini-bus, omnibus, and continuing resolution; to fund the federal government through to September 30, 2012 and closing out the FY 2012 budget process.]]></description>
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		<title>U.S. House Approves APRN Services for Reimbursement of Federal Workers Comp Visits</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/u-s-house-approves-aprn-services-for-reimbursement-of-federal-workers-comp-visits/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/u-s-house-approves-aprn-services-for-reimbursement-of-federal-workers-comp-visits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:45:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Legislative Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[H.R. 2465]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homeland Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reimbursement of APRNs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2496</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On November 29th, the U.S. House approved by voice vote H.R. 2465, the Federal Workers Compensation Modernization and Improvement Act.  The Act, along with various changes to the federal workers compensation program, includes a provision that would allow reimbursement of services provided by APRNs.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Supervision of Nurses: New CMS Rule for Hospital Outpatient Services</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/supervision-of-nurses-new-cms-rule-for-hospital-outpatient-services/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/supervision-of-nurses-new-cms-rule-for-hospital-outpatient-services/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:37:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[In the Agencies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CMS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Critical Access Hospitals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2644</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that many hospitals have special supervision requirements for their outpatient services – including nursing care?  Special requirements for “direct” supervision by physicians and other health care providers particularly affect nursing services, observation units, and critical access hospitals (CAHs).  ANA has advocated to rescind or improve these requirements, which can affect nurses’ ability to provide IV therapy, chemotherapy, and other nursing care in hospital outpatient and observation units.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a final rule maintaining the requirement, with minor changes.]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Elections 2012</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/elections-2012/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/elections-2012/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:30:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Political News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congressional redistricting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Election 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Presidential Election Race]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Town Hall Meetings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2522</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The 2012 elections are now less than 10 months away. These elections are important to watch due to redistricting on the congressional level and, of course, the presidential race. ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Not-So-SUPER Super Committee</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/the-not-so-super-super-committee/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/the-not-so-super-super-committee/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:20:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Legislative Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doc Fix]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SGR (Sustainable Growth Rate)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Super Committee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Budget Control Act of 2011]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reductions, aka the super committee, failed to meet its congressional obligation to vote on a plan for $1.2 trillion in budget cuts during the last weeks of November. As you may remember, the U.S. Congress signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 into law this past summer creating the bipartisan 12 member committee. The super committee had been charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reductions by the end of the year. Their failure to achieve a consensus triggers a series of automatic budget cuts in the amount of 1.2 trillion dollars which will go into effect in 2013.]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>ANA-PAC Wraps Up Successful First Half of Fundraising Cycle in 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/ana-pac-wraps-up-successful-first-half-of-fundraising-cycle-in-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/ana-pac-wraps-up-successful-first-half-of-fundraising-cycle-in-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:15:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[End Notes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safe Staffing Saves Lives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2537</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ANA's PAC and complementary political education program are key to ANA’s legislative success in the U.S. Congress and a strong part of ANA’s overall success. ANA-PAC builds relation¬ships and provides bipartisan support for pro-nursing Members of Congress. In addition to increasing nursing’s visibility in the political arena, ANA-PAC demonstrates to policymakers that we are se¬rious about our issues.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Medicare Now Covers Obesity Screening and Counseling</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/medicare-now-covers-obesity-screening-and-counseling/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/medicare-now-covers-obesity-screening-and-counseling/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[End Notes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BMI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certified nurse midwives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nurse practitioners]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2563</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced November 29, 2011 that Medicare will cover screening and counseling to help reduce obesity.  Medicare beneficiaries can receive these and other approved preventive services from primary care providers (including nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives) without any cost sharing.  ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;Partnership for Patients&#8221; Funds to Reduce Errors and Readmissions</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/partnership-for-patients-funds-to-reduce-errors-and-readmissions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/partnership-for-patients-funds-to-reduce-errors-and-readmissions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:55:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[End Notes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HHS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2616</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On December 14, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services announced $218 million in funding to assist 26 hospital systems in reducing hospital readmissions and preventable medical errors.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/partnership-for-patients-funds-to-reduce-errors-and-readmissions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>32 “Pioneer” Accountable Care Organizations Selected</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/32-pioneer-accountable-care-organizations-selected/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/32-pioneer-accountable-care-organizations-selected/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[End Notes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Affordable Care Act (ACA)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2624</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thirty-two organizations will participate in the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced December 19, 2011.  The ACO initiative was created in the Affordable Care Act to improve quality and coordination of care for Medicare beneficiaries while decreasing costs, with patients assigned to ACOs on the basis of their primary care physician history. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/32-pioneer-accountable-care-organizations-selected/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chronic Illness and Health Information Technology = Improved Quality Care</title>
		<link>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/chronic-illness-and-health-information-technology-improved-quality-care/</link>
		<comments>http://www.capitolupdate.org/index.php/2012/01/chronic-illness-and-health-information-technology-improved-quality-care/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:40:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Doretta.Hood@ana.org</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Legislative Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electronic Health Record (EHR)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health information technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[January 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.capitolupdate.org/?p=2498</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and obesity are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States as well as a major driver of increasing health care costs.  The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a coalition of patient, provider, and community organizations, as well as experts in the field, has a goal of raising awareness of this problem.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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