SILVER SPRING, Md., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- American Nurses Association (ANA) President Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN, voiced ANA’s opposition to proposed cuts to the Medicaid budget during testimony today at a hearing by a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on the public health impact of Hurricane Katrina. Congressional leaders want to cut $10 billion from Medicaid, which provides essential health care coverage for an estimated 51 million Americans. Medicaid covers the elderly, blind and persons with disabilities, pregnant women, children, and the parents of many covered children. ANA supports actions Congress has taken to support emergency health care for the one million or more victims of Hurricane Katrina, yet is concerned that Congressional leaders are continuing with plans to cut Medicaid funding.
Blakeney also spoke out against the cuts at an ANA Press Conference at the U.S. Capitol following the hearing, saying now is not the time to slash Medicaid funding. “Short-term emergency money, while vitally important, is not the only answer,” said Blakeney. “Now is the time to fully address the health care crisis in this country rather than continuing our ineffective Band-Aid approach. On behalf of the nation’s nurses, I call upon the Congress to have compassion not only for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, but also for the nation’s poor, elderly and disabled, along with the 45.8 million Americans who lack health insurance.”
ANA was joined at the press conference by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Nurses Association, Ricki Garrett, who spoke of the devastation in her state, and great need for health care services, including mental health services to deal with the consequences brought on by Hurricane Katrina. Members of Congress, who are also nurses, spoke at the press conference, including Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). Also speaking out against the proposed Medicaid cuts at the conference were Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), ranking member of the House Budget Committee.
“Hurricane Katrina has starkly illustrated what real poverty exists in our country today,” said Rep. Capps. “To cut holes in the health care safety-net for our fellow Americans in need is unconscionable. It is immoral to ask people who have lost everything to pay more for health care.”
“With the high demand for long term care and in the wake of the worst natural disaster in history, cutting $10 billion from Medicaid for the sake of reconciliation is both socially and fiscally irresponsible,” said Rep. McCarthy. “We need Medicaid now more than ever.”
“Medicaid protects impoverished children, the frail elderly and people in crisis,” said Rep. Brown. “Its limited resources will be further stretched serving hurricane victims. Proponents of Medicaid cuts either undervalue Medicaid assistance or underestimate American compassion.”
Blakeney spoke on behalf of the American Nurses Association to convey one simple message: common sense and compassion should prevail. “Our nation should provide basic health care services to those who require them. The first step in this direction is to abandon plans to cut funding for health care for the medically needy and indigent.”
The ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation’s 2.7 million registered nurses through its 54 constituent member nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
American Nurses Association
CONTACT: Catherine Sebold, +1-301-628-5198, catherine.sebold@ana.org, orCindy Price, +1-301-628-5038, cindy.price@ana.org, both of American NursesAssociation
Web site: http://www.nursingworld.org/
