May 5, 2025

Dear Colleagues, 

To start off, thank you to all of the CRNAs/nurse anesthesiologists, RRNAs, and RN/APRN members who joined us to advocate last week at the Mid-Year Assembly. Your voice matters. The turnout this year was gratifying and inspiring—we had attendees from all 50 states and Puerto Rico for the first time since the pandemic. We also welcomed a record number of RN/APRNs, which is so exciting and brought such an opportunity for collaboration and networking.  

MYA may be in the rear-view mirror, but we can’t ease up on the gas pedal. We have critical issues facing our profession and our values are worth fighting for. Here are some ways to be a part of the future of AANA and our profession.  

• Get Involved Today: Your voice and participation are vital to our advocacy efforts. Visit our CRNAdvocacy Action Center  web site today to get involved and drive meaningful change for nurse anesthesia and patient care!     

• Plan to Attend the Annual Congress: We hope to see many of you in Nashville on August 9-13 for the premier nurse anesthesiology educational and networking event. 

• Meet the Candidates: AANA Elections are coming up next week: Voting is open May 13 through May 27. Check out the recordings of the Virtual Forums held in April and learn more about the candidates here. 

• Learn About Proposed Bylaw Amendments and Resolutions: If you weren’t able to attend the Virtual Bylaws and Resolutions hearing in April, see the recording and learn more here. 

• Pitch Your Idea at 2025 Annual Congress: Do you have a compelling concept and a passion to improve the profession? CRNAs/nurse anesthesiologists, RNs, and APRNs are eligible to apply to join the Rm8 iNoV8 Pitch Competition. Finalists will have the opportunity to compete for funding, mentorship, and support. Submit your application by the extended deadline, May 9.  

And finally, Happy National Nurses Week to all of our CRNA, RRNA, and RN members. Share personal stories or express your gratitude for our colleagues and peers on social media using #NationalNursesWeek and #ThePowerofNurses all week long! We are proud to be a part of this amazing and vital profession and thankful for your continued support of AANA and your colleagues. 

Sincerely, 

The AANA Board of Directors 

Questions for the AANA Board of Directors 

If you have general questions for the Board of Directors, please reach out to them at: Board-of-Directors@aana.com 

 
To avoid multiple responses, the AANA Vice President will triage these inquiries and reply on behalf of the Board.

IN THIS ISSUE

• West Virginia Removes Supervision for CRNAs 
  
  
• Help Protect Nursing Workforce Program Funding  

• CMS Releases FY26 Medicare Payment Rule for Inpatient Hospitals 

• AANA Honors Excellence in Federal and State Advocacy and Healthcare Leadership at the Mid-Year Assembly  

• AANA Announces New Rm8 Innovation Lab Partnership with Ollivate Inc.  

• Time is Running Out to Take the 2025 AANA Practice Profile and Compensation & Benefits Member Survey 

ADVOCACY UPDATES

West Virginia Removes Supervision for CRNAs 

West Virginia Senate Bill 810 concerning CRNA practice was signed into law by Governor Patrick Morrisey on April 30, 2025. Introduced at the request of the West Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, the law removes the requirement for CRNAs to practice “in the presence and under the supervision” of a physician or dentist. The law now indicates that CRNAs “may administer anesthesia in cooperation with a physician, dentist, or podiatrist.” The law defines “cooperation” to mean that the CRNA “and the physician, dentist, or podiatrist work together as a team with each contributing an area of expertise at their individual and respective levels of education and training.” 

Help Protect Nursing Workforce Program Funding

Last month, the Washington Post leaked an internal budget document from the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) proposing major funding cuts across the agency. The proposed cuts total $40 billion across the agency, representing almost one-third of the entire HHS discretionary budget. While the document is not a final budget, these cuts are consistent with previous Trump Administration budgets and ongoing efforts to reduce spending.   

Of particular concern to AANA, the leaked budget proposal calls for eliminating almost all Title VIII Nursing Workforce Programs, including the Advanced Education Nursing program that funds the Nurse Anesthetists Traineeship (NAT), as well as the Nurse Faculty Loan program and the Nurse Education, Practice, and Retention Program. It would leave the NURSE Corps program with $92 million. In total, it would cut over $212 million for Title VIII programs.    

The AANA strongly opposes cuts to Title VIII funding. We need CRNAs to take action now to help us protect these critical programs   

If you have a personal story of how Title VIII programs benefited you, your colleagues, or a resident/student, be sure to share those with your legislator.   

Instructions for Contacting Your Representative 

1. Click here and follow the prompts to be connected with your U.S. Representative.   
   
   
2. You will be directed to a draft email to your legislator. If your Representative sits on the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, the letter will ask them to support funding for the Title VIII program. If your Representative does not sit on this Subcommittee, it will ask them to sign a letter to the Subcommittee requesting funding for Title VIII funding.   

CMS Releases FY26 Medicare Payment Rule for Inpatient Hospitals

On April 11, 2025, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released several FY 2026 Medicare payment rules, including the FY 2026 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule for acute care hospitals. The FY 2026 IPPS proposed rule includes the following proposed policy changes:  

• An estimated 2.4% increase in payment rates for acute care hospitals, reflecting a hospital market basket percentage increase of 3.2%, reduced by a 0.8 percentage point productivity adjustment.   

• The modification of four measures currently in place under the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program and the removal of four separate measures (related to health equity and COVID-19) under the Hospital IQR Program.  

• The discontinuation of the low wage index hospital policy for 2026 (due to a federal court ruling).  

• The modification of the electronic health record (EHR) reporting period starting in CY 2026 for eligible hospitals.  

AANA staff are currently reviewing the FY 2026 IPPS proposed rule and will submit comments ahead of the June 10, 2025, submission deadline.  

SIGNIFICANT NEWS

AANA Honors Excellence in Federal and State Advocacy and Healthcare Leadership at the Mid-Year Assembly

AANA presented the following awards during the 2025 Mid-Year Assembly, April 26-30, in Washington, DC.  

Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director of the Year Award. Stacey Whittington, MSNA, CRNA, APRN, is this year’s honoree. In her role as Federal Political Director of Maine Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (MeANA), Whittington works closely with the offices of federal legislators to increase their knowledge of the critical role CRNAs play in Maine’s healthcare landscape and leads discussions to help educate legislators and the public about the outstanding CRNA practice in Maine. Most recently, her efforts resulted in both of Maine’s U.S. Representatives, Jared Golden (D-2) and Chellie Pingree (D-1), signing AANA’s letter in support of VA Full-Practice Authority.  

Excellence in State Government Relations Advocacy Award: The Colorado Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (CoANA) is the Excellence in State Government Relations Advocacy honoree. CoANA worked passionately to educate lawmakers and health officials about the scope and training of CRNAs/nurse anesthesiologists, culminating in the expansion of their partial opt-out status in 2010 to full opt-out  in 2023, ensuring patient safety and access to patient care in Colorado.  

National Health Leadership Award: U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and U.S. Representative Chris Pappas (D-NH) are winners of AANA’s 2025 National Health Leadership Award   

• Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020, Sen. Cynthia Lummis has distinguished herself as a champion for nurse anesthesia policy by introducing AANA’s key legislation, the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act. Sen. Lummis’s public service and commitment to her work in Congress to reduce the federal deficit has made her a respected figure in the Republican Caucus. 
  
  
• Rep. Chris Pappas serves on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, where he has championed the removal of barriers to CRNA practice and increased access to the care they provide. Rep. Pappas has supported legislation to protect nurses from workplace violence and to ensure that Veterans Affairs (VA) nurses are fairly compensated. He is a co-sponsor of the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act, the Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act, while supporting robust funding for Title VIII nursing workforce programs.   

 AANA Announces New Rm8 Innovation Lab Partnership with Ollivate Inc.

The AANA is pleased to announce Ollivate Inc. as a new start-up to its Rm8 Innovation Lab. Through Rm8, healthcare startups are able to transform ideas into scalable and profitable solutions that advance healthcare and patient outcomes.  

Co-founded by Joshua Olson, DNP, CRNA, a nurse anesthetist and professor, and April Olson, MS, Ollivate is a gamified learning platform backed by cognitive science. It’s designed to help Resident Registered Nurse Anesthetists (RRNAs) master complex, high-stakes content in a fun, engaging way that reduces study stress through spaced repetition, adaptive learning, and interactive quizzes. Read more.  

They are also launching a CE-version of the app in the coming months and are looking for CRNA beta testers – interested members can sign-up here.  

Time is Running Out to Take the 2025 AANA Practice Profile and Compensation & Benefits Member Survey

In addition to gathering demographic and practice data, AANA uses information from this anonymous survey to calculate compensation and benefits statistics and trends for various geographic areas and practice settings. 

Once you complete the survey, you will have the opportunity to receive a free electronic copy of the AANA Compensation & Benefits Survey when it is available in late summer. Please note that to receive your free copy, you will need to provide your contact information via a separate form at the end of the survey. 

Complete the Survey 

The following is an FEC required legal notification for CRNA-PAC. Gifts to political action committees are not tax deductible. Contributions to CRNA-PAC are for political purposes. All contributions to CRNA-PAC are voluntary. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. The guidelines are merely suggestions. You are free to contribute more or less than the guidelines suggest and the association will not favor or disadvantage you by reason of the amount contributed or the decision not to contribute. Federal law requires CRNA-PAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and the name of the employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. Each contributor must be a US Citizen.