Attached is a template for you to send to the DEA. Please feel free to personalize and add your years of experience, your specialty, and your observations in your Ambulatory Care settings.
Please submit by March 18th at 11:59 PM EST.
Sincerely,
Leondra Weiss, MN, ARNP, Family Nurse Practitioner at a FQHC in WA state (425) 870-0558
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Leondra Weiss MN, ARNP, FNP-BC, AMB-BC, C-EFM
Family Medicine ARNP
Vashon WA
(425) 870-0558
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-12-2025 11:55
From: Leondra Weiss
Subject: Advocacy Call to Action--Deadline March 18th 11:59 EST
The Time is Now! We can't sit idly by!
The Advocacy Committee needs your support now for 2 important upcoming issues. We realize there is a lot of uncertainty going on but one thing we know for sure is that we need to organize and mobilize to save the programs that serve our vulnerable communities. We have already signed onto the 2026 Title VIII and NINR Request Letter in addition to other important letters being sent to both the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees.
Please write to your elected officials to stop the funding cuts and by adding "Public Comments' to the DEA Telemedicine Registrations.
We need to make our voices heard loud and clear!
1. Stop Medicaid and Social Security Funding Cuts!
Subject: Urgent Concerns Regarding Medicaid Cuts
Dear [Representative's Name],
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my concern about proposed Medicaid and Social Security Funding Cuts. As your constituent and nurse working in healthcare for over { } years, I ask you to do all you can to prevent funding reductions to Medicaid and Social Security, including voting against any reconciliation bill that would result in cuts to this critically important program.
Medicaid provides needed health services to new and expecting mothers, people with disabilities, veterans and low wage workers. Cutting Medicaid will force more hospitals-the lifeblood of so many communities-to close or reduce services. This will mean lives lost, as well as jobs lost for nurses and other healthcare workers-and even worse staffing levels. I'm not exaggerating: Medicaid accounted for 19 percent of all payments to hospitals in 2022.
Medicaid is also crucial to schools. It provides the fourth largest amount of federal funding to K-12 schools, helping to ensure that students with special needs can fulfill their potential, while also supporting the salaries of school-based staff like mental health professionals and school nurses who help all students.
You can go to this map to get an idea of how many of your constituents are supported by Medicaid: https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2024/12/04/medicaid-chip-coverage-by-congressional-district-2023/
If Congress cuts funding for Medicaid, many of these members of our community will lose healthcare, or we will be faced with cuts to law enforcement and other essential public services.
Do the right thing and stand up for access to healthcare, nurses and healthcare workers, senior citizens and high-quality schools in our community, by protecting Medicaid from funding cuts.
Cuts to Social Security could put 70 million retired and disabled Americans at risk of preventable medical hospitalizations, disfigurement, and loss of life.
Thank you for considering my views and my request to protect Medicaid and Social Security.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]
[Your Professional Title, if applicable]
[Your Organization, if applicable]
2. The DEA has a proposed rule titled "Special Registrations for Telemedicine and Limited State Telemedicine Registrations" is currently open for public comment.
AAACN, as an affiliate of ANA, opposes the draft rule and supports withdrawing the proposal and starting over. The Advocacy Team has included a draft attachment (revised document from the ANA) for comments on specific sections of the rule of the current proposal.
We encourage you to submit your own comments on the rule. We are sharing the attached draft as a template, feel free to copy, paste, and edit as you see fit.
Comments to the proposed rule can be submitted here, through the comment button at the top of the page. Please note that all comments are public and will be posted for public viewing after submission. All comments are due by 11:59 PM eastern time on March 18, 2025.
We are here to support you so please reach out to me Leondra Weiss (leondratw@gmail.com) Advocacy Chair (or any of the Advocacy Committee) for further tools/resources and support. We look forward to making our voices heard and stand together for our patients and nursing workforce!
Respectfully,
Leondra Weiss, Advocacy Chair, MN, ARNP, Family Nurse Practitioner
One attachment • Scanned by Gmail
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Leondra Weiss MN, ARNP, FNP-BC, AMB-BC, C-EFM
Clinical Nurse Educator, Family Medicine ARNP
Harborview Medical Center, Sea Mar
Vashon WA
(425) 870-0558
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