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ACNM Policy Update - 3/11/2016



Federal Issues

1. Quality Care for Moms and Babies Act Reintroduced in the House
2. KFF Releases Issue Brief on ACA Marketplace Enrollment
3. NQF Provides Introduction to Quality and Federal Policy
4. HHS Announces Tying 30 Percent of Medicare Payments to Quality
5. Don't Forget to Register for ACNM's 61st Annual Meeting and Exhibition















State Issues


1. A Note on State Policy Tracking
2. New Laws: NM, VA, WV, WY









Federal Issues





1. Quality Care for Moms and Babies Act
Reintroduced in the House






The Quality Care for Moms and Babies Act (H.R.
4695
/S.
466
) has been reintroduced in the House by Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY) along
with Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH). This legislation
would require HHS to identify existing quality measures related to maternity
care, fund the development of measures needed to fill gaps in the measure set
thus identified, and also fund the operation of maternity care quality
collaboratives using these measures to improve care. ACNM is a strong supporter of this
legislation and has provided information on our website
as well as an Action
Alert
, through which members can educate themselves and encourage their
legislators to support this bill.





A key Senate committee has passed the bill in that
chamber and we have been told that its prospects are good in the full
Senate.





2. KFF Releases Issue Brief on ACA Marketplace
Enrollment






The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has released an issue
brief
looking at enrollment through the health insurance marketplaces
created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), examining why enrollment may be lower than projected by Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) and discussing the potential for future enrollment
growth. They conclude that there is
considerable room for enrollment growth over the next several years. However, even if all states signed people up
at the rate of the top 10 states, enrollment would still fall well short of
projections by CBO, suggesting that those forecasts may have been unrealistic.





On the same
day that KFF released their brief, the Administration released a report arguing that some 20 million people have gained coverage as a result of
changes made under the ACA, significantly reducing the uninsured rate among the
population.





3.
NQF Provides Introduction to Quality and Federal Policy






The National
Quality Forum (NQF), of which ACNM is a member, has created an excellent and
concise resource to help the public understand the basics of quality measure
development and use, as well as how these measures are used in various health
care systems. Their website includes
eleven very brief video segments outlining issues related to quality and
policy.





The NQF has
also announced that it will host a web conference, entitled "Talking
about Quality and Federal Policy," on March 22, from 3:00-3:30pm ET. Meg
McGinty, Senior Manager of Public Affairs at NQF, and an experienced lobbyist
and government affairs expert, will lead this conversation about the basics of
quality and federal policy. You can
register here.






4. HHS Announces Tying 30 Percent of Medicare
Payments to Quality






The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced
that the Department has successfully reached a goal of tying 30 percent of
Medicare's payments to methodologies that incorporate and reward quality. The Department had originally intended to
meet this goal at the end of 2016 and was able to do so quite early due to
aggressive regulatory changes and cooperation with the private sector to
promote value-based approaches to reimbursement.





Because quality-based reimbursement is becoming ever more
common, efforts to gather data, such as ACNM's benchmarking work, will
become more important as time goes by.
If you are not currently reporting data through that mechanism, you and
your practice should give serious consideration to doing so.





5. Don't Forget to Register for ACNM's 61st
Annual Meeting and Exhibition






ACNM's 61st Annual Meeting and Exhibition will
take place in Albuquerque, New Mexico from May 21-26. Advance registration pricing runs through May
16, so to secure the best deal, make sure you register today!




State Issues





1. A Note on State Policy Tracking
Due to the volume of bills ACNM tracks at the state-level, our reporting in
these policy updates will be limited to enacted legislation. For a complete
list of all the measures that ACNM is following, visit our State Legislative Tracking
Tool
.


2. New Laws: NM, VA, WV, WY


*
New
Mexico
S.105
provides for
expedited professional and occupational licensing if the applicant is a licensee
in good standing in another jurisdiction. The bill was signed into law on March
1.


*
Virginia
H.580
adds definitions of
"advanced practice registered nurse," "certified nurse
midwife," and "certified registered nurse anesthetist" as they
apply to the licensing chapters of the Code of Virginia for the Boards of
Medicine and Nursing. The bill was signed by the Governor on March 1.


*
Virginia
S.212
alters the composition of
numerous health regulatory boards, including the Board of Nursing. The law
increases the membership of the Board of Nursing from 13 to 14 members by
increasing the required number of registered nurse members from seven to eight
and also increasing the number of such registered nurses who must be licensed
nurse practitioners from one to two. The bill was signed into law on
March 1.


*
West
Virginia
S.123
allows CNMs
to provide expedited partner therapy if, in the
judgment of the CNM, the sexual partner is unlikely or unable to present for
comprehensive health care, including evaluation, testing and treatment for
sexually transmitted diseases. Expedited partner therapy is limited to a sexual
partner who may have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease within the
previous sixty days and who is able to be contacted by the patient. The bill
was signed into law on February 25.


*
Wyoming H.56
adopts the Advanced Practice Nurse Licensure Compact. Entering into the Compact
allows advanced practice nurses licensed in one Compact state, including
Wyoming, to exercise a multi-state licensure privilege in other states that are
a party to the Compact. The bill was signed by the Governor on March 2.





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