Along with the Alliance for Childhood Cancer, APHON sent letters to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to ask for passage of the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act before the end of the 117th Congress.

APHON and 62 additional organizations in the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) sent thank you letters to nursing champions in Congress who are retiring or leaving Capitol Hill at the end of this year, including: Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40), Rodney Davis (R-IL-13), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30), and David McKinley (R-WV-01), as well as Debbie Jessup, a nurse and congressional staffer for Rep. Roybal-Allard.

APHON joined with 61 other organizations in the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) in urging Congress to pass top legislative priorities addressing the needs of nursing education, practice, and research before the end of the 117th Congress.

APHON joined with the Patient Quality of Life Coalition (PQLC) to ask House and Senate Leadership to include the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) in an end of the year package.

As part of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC), APHON joined 57 other organizations asking Senate leadership to pass the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.

APHON and 49 other organizations signed onto a letter supporting the Sickle Cell Disease Comprehensive Care Act and requesting that it be included in any year-end health care package. This bill would direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to create a demonstration program in up to 10 states to improve access to comprehensive, high-quality outpatient care, including recommended clinical, mental health, ancillary, and support services, for individuals enrolled in Medicaid with SCD.

APHON and 61 other member organizations of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC), signed onto a letter to both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to again request at least $324.472 million for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and at least $208.571 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Omnibus.

As part of the CAC2 Coalition, APHON signed onto two letters to the House and Senate Sponsors of the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act, urging to pass this pill and reauthorize the program for an additional 5 years. The STAR Act expands opportunities for childhood cancer research, improves efforts to identify and track childhood cancer incidences, and enhances the quality of life for childhood cancer survivors. Originally signed into law in 2018, the STAR Act has authorized $30 million in federal funding each year for these programs.

APHON joined the Nursing Community Coalition to endorse the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act, which would help to remove barriers in Medicare and Medicaid that prevent APRNs from practicing to the full extent of their education and clinical training. Removing these barriers would increase patients’ timely access to care from the provider of their choice.

Along with 61 other members of the Nursing Community Coalition, APHON signed onto a letter requesting that specific priorities that impact the nursing workforce be passed before the end of the year. These include the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN) Act, the Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act, and supporting the mental health, health working environments, and safety measures for the current and future nursing workforce.