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.
On December 20, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the details for the Independence at Home Demonstration application process. The demonstration project was created under the Affordable Care Act and seeks to increase the scope of in-home primary care services for chronically ill Medicare patients.
On June 21, 2011, Representatives Greg Walden (R-OR) and Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) reintroduced the “Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2011” (H.R. 2267). This bipartisan legislation would allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) – nurse practitioners (NPs), clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), physician assistants (PAs) – to order home health services and meet the face-to-face requirement under Medicare in accordance with state law.
ANA recently submitted comments urging CMS, Congress, and the Administration to allow APRNs – and all healthcare providers – to qualify for a portion of the billions of dollars in incentives for adopting health information technology/electronic health records systems under the federal Medicare/Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program.
ANA has come out in support of the President’s (FY 2011) budget proposal, released February 1st which demonstrates his continued commitment to strengthening the nation’s nursing workforce. The $590 million included for health professions programs includes $244 million for increasing the capacity of the nurse workforce.
