Coalition to Protect Senior Care Running New Print Ads Warning Cuts Threaten Seniors' Care Quality
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The recently-formed Coalition to Protect Senior Care, a broad array of clinician and front-line care giver organizations dedicated to ensuring Congress ends consideration of seniors' Medicare Part A nursing home funding, today announced two new organizations have joined the Coalition, and that a new print advertising effort urging opposition to the cuts has begun in Capitol Hill-oriented news publications.
Lisa Cantrell, a co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, and a national spokesperson for the Coalition to Protect Senior Care, said both the American Association of Nurse Executives (AANEX) and the American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators (AANAC) joined the Coalition this week, and stated, "We welcome these two new Coalition members to our ranks, and we are pleased their membership of front-line caregivers has publicly agreed to help us warn that Medicare cuts present a clear and present danger to seniors' quality of care and quality of life."
The American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators (AANAC), representing 7,500 members nationwide, is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to supporting clinicians involved in measuring and providing accurate information on clinical assessment and care planning, regulatory requirements, reimbursement, quality indicators and quality measures. The American Association of Nurse Executives (AANEX) is a newly formed non-profit professional organization dedicated to supporting nurse executives in long-term care by providing accurate and timely information on leadership and management, survey, enforcement and compliance strategies, clinical protocols and standards of practice.
"Front line caregivers and clinicians have a shared responsibility with our lawmakers to ensure every senior, from every walk of life, receives the quality long term care they need and deserve," said Diane Carter, RN, MSN, President and CEO of Long Term Care NurseNet, the umbrella organization for AANEX and AANAC. "We completely concur with the Coalition's view that the Medicare cuts still under consideration by Congress will take us backwards in terms of advancing the rigorous intra-facility quality improvement programs now underway nationwide. Plain and simple, the Medicare cuts are harmful to seniors' care needs, and should not be implemented."
Cantrell said the new Coalition to Protect Senior Care print advertising now running conveys the following message:
"Congress and front-line caregivers have a shared responsibility to protect Medicare funding for senior care. Proposed cuts of $2.7 billion threaten recent quality improvements and adequate staffing levels in our nation's skilled nursing facilities. It is up to our leaders in Washington to take a stand for quality care, and for our nation's sick, elderly and disabled citizens."
In addition to AANAC and AANEX, The Coalition to Protect Senior Care consists of the American Association for Long Term Care Nursing (AALTCN); the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA); the National Rural Health Association (NRHA); the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA); the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Society of Health Care Administration Executives (ASHCAE); ASHCAE state affiliate members representing Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas and Utah; the American Health Care Association (AHCA); the American Health Quality Association (AHQA); the Coalition of Women in Long Term Care (COWL); the National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL); the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA); the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care; and the Senior Clinician Group.
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