Ask Your Senators to Sign on to Letter Requesting CMS Remove CRNA Supervision
CRNA-PAC Month of Giving: 31 Days. $31. Join us.
Ask Your Legislators to Cosponsor the Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act (H.R.2234)
AANA Issues Statement and Resources Clarifying CMS Requirements for Resident Participation in Hospitals
AANA Responds to Wyden RFI on Healthcare Coverage
CMS Launches Medicaid Quality Initiative Focused on Health Outcomes
Make Your Voice Heard Before Election Day
Hill Happenings: What’s Going on in D.C. this Week
Amendments
Ask your Senators to Sign on to Letter Requesting CMS Remove CRNA Supervision
Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) are asking senators to join them in a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting that CMS permanently remove the supervision requirement for CRNAs. The letter is being circulated now with a deadline of Oct. 9. It’s important that ask your senators to sign on to this letter NOW!
Urge your senators to sign the letter telling CMS to take swift action to eliminate this burdensome requirement today.
Instructions:
Click here and follow the prompts to contact your U.S. senators. You will be directed to a sample email.
Please personalize the message so it reflects your experience as a constituent and CRNA or resident.
Click “send letter.”
Share this call to action with your friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to participate.
If you have any questions, please contact AANA Federal Government Affairs at info@aanadc.com. Thank you for being a CRNAdvocate!
CRNA-PAC Month of Giving: 31 Days. $31. Join us.
Election Day is just about a month away, and our bipartisan CRNA-PAC needs your help to maximize our impact. That’s why this October, we’re challenging all AANA members to contribute $31 – just $1 per day – to amplify our voice in Washington, DC.
$31 isn’t a lot individually. But with 71,000 members, $31 quickly becomes more than $2.2 million.
If every AANA member answered the call, CRNA-PAC could become the largest healthcare professional association PAC in Washington, DC within just a few days.
CRNA-PAC is YOUR voice on Capitol Hill, fighting every day to educate lawmakers and candidates about CRNAs and the policies that impact our profession and our patients, and working to elect and re-elect our champions on November 3.
CRNA-PAC is funded 100% by the personal contributions of AANA members like us and we need your help to reach our goals. If you haven’t already, will you help kick off our Month of Giving with a $31 contribution today?
Ask Your Legislators to Cosponsor the Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act (H.R.2234)
The Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act of 2025, introduced by Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL) in the U.S. House, would remove outdated and unnecessary barriers that limit veterans' access to timely anesthesia care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This legislation will align the VHA with current Defense Health Agency policy, reduce wait times, increase access to care, and strengthen safety and transparency within the VHA.
AANA Issues Statement and Resources Clarifying CMS Requirements for Resident Participation in Hospital Teaching Cases
AANA issued a statement regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) requirements related to the participation of Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNAs), also referred to as Resident Registered Nurse Anesthetists (RRNA), in anesthesia teaching cases. The statement clarifies thatSRNAs/RRNAs are permitted to participate in teaching cases, including those in hospital settings, under CMS requirements and that there is no basis to warrant the removal of SRNAs/RRNAs or the need for facility bylaw overhauls.
To help educators and clinical sites understand the requirements and preserve clinical leaning opportunities, AANA has also developed a fact sheet. Additional resources, along with the Joint Commission’s FAQ on its hospital accreditation standards, are available on AANA’s Educator Hub.
AANA Responds to Wyden RFI on Healthcare Coverage
On Thursday, AANA President Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA, sent a letter in response to a recent Request for Information (RFI) put out by Sen. Ron Wyden. Sen. Wyden currently serves as the ranking member on the powerful Senate Finance Committee. which has broad jurisdiction over healthcare issues. The RFI is a wide-ranging appeal for ideas and information on how to improve healthcare coverage for all Americans.
In AANA’s response, we highlighted several key issues and recommendations:
Ensure that long overdue provider nondiscrimination provisions are enforced to protect patient choice and access.
Ensure that insurers participating in Medicare Advantage provide reimbursement in a timely and fair manner.
Address ongoing cuts to Medicare’s reimbursement for anesthesia services that put access to care at risk and increase costs for consumers.
End Medicare’s unnecessary supervision requirement for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) to ensure the most efficient and accessible anesthesia care across the country.
Ensure that AI supports but does not supplant providers in providing care and making important healthcare judgments and decisions.
Ensure CRNAs and other non-physician healthcare providers have a seat at the table for reform discussions.
AANA will continue to advocate for policies that protect providers and ensure that patients have access to high-quality affordable healthcare.
CMS Launches Medicaid Quality Initiative Focused on Health Outcomes
On Sept. 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the launch of Investing in Health Outcomes, a new initiative with 37 founding state partners aimed at shifting Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) quality measurement toward health outcomes rather than process and administrative measures. This initiative follows a May 2026 CMS analysis that identified approximately 450 reporting requirements and 260 unique quality measures across Medicaid managed care programs in 42 states. CMS noted that duplicative and varying state requirements contribute to reporting burden and can make cross-state performance comparisons difficult. Through the voluntary Medicaid Quality Pledge, participating states will prioritize health outcomes, streamline quality measures to reduce reporting burden, and advance digital quality measurement. The initiative also aims to align financial accountability with outcomes-focused measures, including through value-based arrangements.
The shift toward outcomes-based Medicaid quality measurement may warrant monitoring as states revise quality strategies and procurements. Changes to Medicaid managed care quality measures and value-based arrangements could affect opportunities for CRNA participation in quality and value-based care initiatives. AANA will continue to monitor this initiative and engage as appropriate as CMS and participating states advance implementation.
Make Your Voice Heard Before Election Day
Election day is just a month away, and now is the time to help elect/re-elect CRNAs and CRNA champions to office and to get ready to make your voice heard at the polls. Here are some resources to make it easy to make your voice heard.
Visit our CRNAdvocacy Action Center to register to vote, check your voter registration status, view candidates who will appear on your ballot, and look at your options for voting in person or absentee on election day or during early voting.
Contribute to the bipartisan CRNA-PAC. As the largest PAC in nursing and the fifth largest healthcare professional association PAC, CRNA-PAC works every day to educate candidates for office about CRNAs and to elect CRNA champions to office. CRNA-PAC is 100% funded by personal contributions from AANA members. Support our efforts today at https://crna-pac.com/pledge/.
Support CRNA champions directly through Nursing Votes. A project of CRNA-PAC, Nursing Votes leverages the political power of individual CRNAs and other nurses. Nursing Votes is a secure direct giving platform that empowers all nurses to support nurses and pro-nursing candidates running for office. Through this platform, you can decide which A+ candidates you would like to support directly, and filter candidates by office, party, and more. Learn more at candidates.nursingvotes.org today!
Hill Happenings: What's Going on in D.C. this Week
The House and Senate are both in recess until after Election Day.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) will be holding their next public meeting on Thursday, Oct. 8, and Friday, Oct. 9.
Amendments
Engage in your profession's social media feed on Facebook and X.
Do you have a suggestion for, or feedback, about the Federal Advocacy Hotline?We would love to hear from you at info@aanadc.com.
AANA Action Center
Visit the AANA Action Center to advocate on behalf of your profession. Participate in our highlighted campaigns, view the status of important legislation, see your current elected officials, view your voter registration status and more!
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