Nurses may be interested to know about recent final rules which may directly impact the practice of nursing, patient care and access, and health care policy at the federal level. Executive agencies and departments are required to publish notices of all rules and decisions in the Federal Register, and accept public comments on proposed rules. Final rules are not open for comment, and become part of U.S. law in the Code of Federal Regulations.

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Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on July 1st the establishment of a new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) that will offer coverage to the uninsured who have been unable to obtain health coverage because of a pre-existing health condition for at least six months. The program was created in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a transitional program to operate until 2014 when the state operated exchanges become active.

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As you may be aware, in June 2010 the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced that $500 million in grants would be made available for primary and preventive care – including funds specifically supporting nurses. These funds come from the Prevention and Public Health fund for fiscal year 2010, created by the new healthcare reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More recently, HHS announced an additional $96 million in grants to improve the diversity of the healthcare workforce, and encourage nurses to pursue careers in education.

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