Hello from your new Chair of the Advocacy Committee- Its time to mobilize the troops for a grassroots call to action!
You may be following the developments in Congress related to the Budget Reconciliation Bill (Big Beautiful Bill). The Senate has just voted on their version of the package which has already been passed out of the House of Representatives.
This bill includes a large number of cuts to the Medicaid Program, which is likely to not only impact the patients we serve, but have significant financial impacts on on many ambulatory care practices, which are funded by reimbursements through Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the impact of this bill will be up to 11 million people being impacted and losing Medicaid coverage.
So, what can you do?
Its pretty easy- Write your Representative! There are two ways to do this:
1) Visit your Representative's webpage and email a message ( you can look them up at congress.gov) OR
2) Sign up (if you haven't already) to RN Action- and send a message! If you use RN Action, there is a pre-populated message and it will automatically send to all of your elected officials.
Here are some talking points you can add to customize your message-
- People living in rural areas may be particularly impacted, as they have high rates of populations with Medicaid coverage, and could seriously impact access to care.
- As an ambulatory care nurse, I am concerned that these cuts to Medicaid will have a ripple effect on nurses who practice in ambulatory care environments, and potentially result in job losses for nurses and other health professionals, should clinics lose Medicaid reimbursement.
- I urge you to vote NO on the Senate budget reconciliation package.
3) Let us know if you sent a message by sending me an email: kaerlivsey@gmail.com - or if you have questions- reach out to me!
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Kae Livsey PhD MPH RN
Western Carolina Univ
Waynesville NC
(703) 403-2468
kaerlivsey@gmail.com------------------------------