May 8, 2020 Letter to Capitol Hill outlining ANA's priorities for the fourth COVID-19 aid package
ANA May 2020 letter to Congress asking for mental health resources, increased testing and hazard pay for front-line workers in the fourth COVID-19 aid package
May 8, 2020
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
U.S. Capitol Building, H-222
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Leader
U.S. Capitol Building, H-230
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
House Republican Leader
U.S. Capitol Building, H-204
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Charles Schumer
Senate Democratic Leader
U.S. Capitol Building, S-221
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy, and Leader Schumer:
On behalf of the American Nurses Association (ANA), we thank the United States Congress for its ongoing efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) marked the third legislative package to address COVID-19. The additional funds for personal protective equipment (PPE) and the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) were necessary to enhance the safety of frontline providers and patients. We urge you to continue making access to PPE a key priority where urgent shortages or limited supplies are identified.
As Congress begins working on its next COVID-19 response package, we urge you to consider the following actions to protect nurses and other health care providers as they risk their own health and safety to save the lives of their fellow Americans:
- Establish mental health resources for nurses and other health care workers serving across all health care settings on the frontlines of the pandemic.
- Provide hazard pay to nurses, and other frontline health care workers, to maintain a ready workforce in the face of the demands and hardships of the crisis.
- Prioritize testing and treatment of nurses, and other frontline health care providers, who become exposed to COVID-19, so those individuals can go back to work as soon as possible.
- Pass the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act of 2020, legislation that would require the federal government to immediately ramp up manufacturing of medical supplies and create a coordinated procurement and distribution process to states and health care facilities.
- Prevent nurses and other frontline providers from being forced to use paid time off because of suspected exposure or contraction of COVID-19.
- Require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide science-based information on the transmission of the virus so that nurses can make the best decision on the appropriate level of protection.
- Require the Department of Health and Human Services to develop reporting requirements to better track quantities of PPE at health care facilities.
- Ensuring network adequacy by implementing provider nondiscrimination protections.
- Rebuild the public health infrastructure that was decimated after the 2008 financial crisis through budget cuts.
- Pass the Improving Access to Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Act, to allow advanced practice providers to begin supervising patients’ day-to-day cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation care.
We appreciate the leadership you have provided in ensuring our nation’s ability to respond to COVID-19. We look forward to continuing to work with you to protect the health of our nation and stand ready to serve as a resource.
Sincerely,
Debbie D. Hatmaker, PhD, RN, FAAN
Acting Chief Executive Officer/Chief Nursing Officer
cc: Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANA President
