AWHONN regularly interacts with Members of Congress, their staff, and key agency officials. Below is a selection of written communications to these important partners.

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11/9/2023As part of the Medicaid Family Planning Working Group, AWHONN requested a meeting with Daniel Tsai, the Director of Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services to discuss the importance of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and the range of issues affecting Medicaid beneficiaries access to SRH services. These issues include but are not limited to: equalizing contraceptive coverage, protecting confidentiality and patient privacy, over the counter coverage and access, access to covered services and health care refusals, and enforcement of federal Medicaid law.
10/31/2023AWHONN signed onto the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter to Rear Admiral Jennifer Moon welcoming her as the new Chief Nurse Officer at the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
10/10/2023 Improving Care and Access to Nurses (I CAN) Act
AWHONN joined the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) and 60 other organizations in thanking Senate Nursing Caucus Co-Chair, Senator Jeff Merkley, and Senator Cynthia Lummis, for introducing the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (I CAN) Act (S.2418).
9/13/2023AWHONN endorses the CARE for Moms Act, as introduced by Representative Robin Kelly. The purpose of the Act is to improve Federal efforts to prevent maternal mortality, including but not limited to: funding for state-based perinatal quality collaboratives development and sustainability, Medicaid and CHIP expansion, funding to grow and diversify the full spectrum doula workforce, grants for rural obstetric mobile health units, requiring notification of impending hospital obstetric unit closure, reporting on maternal health needs, and increasing excise taxes of cigarettes and establishing tax equity among all tobacco product tax rates.
7/31/2023Urgent Concern - Sunsetting of Maternal Mortality Review Committee in Idaho
AWHONN joined the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in denouncing the decision of the Idaho State legislature to allow the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) to sunset. The denouncement urged the Idaho state legislature to reinstate the state MMRC and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to continue collecting maternal death data in the meantime.
7/18/2023AWHONN joined Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) in writing a letter to House and Senate leadership, pledging support for the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023 which continues federal aid for state-based maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs). MMRCs provide a crucial role in prevention of future maternal mortalities. The bill would advance AWHONN’s legislative priority to “support initiatives to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality and improve the health status of pregnant and birthing people, as well as policies designed to increase funding to address racial health disparities, structural and social determinants of health, and resolve health inequities contributing to these issues."
6/30/2023Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act
AWHONN endorsed the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Actwhich amends title V of the Social Security Act to support stillbirth prevention and research. This act is in line with AWHONN’s legislative priority to support initiatives to reduce infant mortality and improve the health status of newborns, critically ill infants, and preterm newborns, as well as policies designed to increase funding to address racial health disparities, structural and social determinants of health, and resolve health inequities contributing to these issues.
6/26/2023United States Breastfeeding Committee – Promoting Breastfeeding through CDC Funding
Synopsis: AWHONN joined the United States Breastfeeding Committee’s (USBC) petition to congress to direct $20M to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding line item in the Fiscal Year 2024. This funding would enable the Division of Nutritional Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) to implement the following:
1. Maintain and expand critical monitoring and surveillance activities
2. Utilize the CDC’s website to disseminate key breastfeeding information
3. Expand quality improvement investments for maternity care in hospitals
4. Expand funding for state, community, and tribal efforts to advance lactation support
5. Enhance and deepen partnerships with other federal agencies to develop infrastructure for infant feeding and lactation support
6/8/2023In accordance with the legislative priority to support initiatives to allow access to a wide range of evidence-based contraceptive options for women who seek them, AWHONN supported the proposed introduction of the Convenient Contraception Act. This bill would require health insurers to grant individuals access to a one year supply of contraceptives, rather than the three-month supply that is currently standard in many states.
3/29/2023 Regarding Coverage of Certain Preventative Services under the Affordable Care Act: RIN 1545-BQ35, RIN 1210-AC13, & RIN 0938-AU94
Synopsis: AWHONN joined 44 other organizations in responding to the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, and Department of the Treasury’s proposed rulemaking Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act, concurring with many of the Departments’ conclusions and proposing several recommendations for the final rule. Specifically, the signed organizations agreed with the Departments’ recission of the exemption of contraceptive care based in moral objection, comments on the Departments’ proposed Individual Contraceptive Agreement (ICA), and addresses the need for oversight and enforcement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraceptive coverage requirement.
3/8/2023 Friends of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Appropriations Request
Synopsis: AWHONN signed on to a letter directed to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to request no less than $500 million in funding for the Agency for Healthcare and Research and Quality (AHRQ) for fiscal year 2024. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) supports research to improve health care quality, reduce costs, advance patient safety, decrease medical errors, and broaden access to essential services.
10/26/22 NCC Thanks House Nursing Caucus Co-Chairs for Introducing the I CAN Act
AWHONN joined 56 members of the Nursing Community Coalition in signing onto a letter to the co-chairs of the House Nursing Caucus supporting H.R. 8812, the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act. The ICAN Act would remove outdated barriers in the Medicare and Medicaid programs that prevent nurses from performing their duties to their full extent. Passing the ICAN Act would allow a step forward into a more equitable health system.
9/25/22AWHONN signed the Joint Commitment Statement on Climate Change and Health, in recognition of the growing threat of climate change to both physical and psychosocial health. AWHONN is committed to investing in the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure equitable care for all Americans in the face of climate impacts. In signing this letter, AWHONN joined other top organizations in calling for continued support from the Biden Administration and federal agencies in protecting the public’s health through concrete actions.
9/6/22AWHONN joined a citizen petition requesting that the FDA ask Danco Laboratories, LLC to submit a Supplemental New Drug Application for Mifeprex (mifepristone), adding miscarriage management as an indication on the drug’s label. Additionally, the petition requests that Danco Laboratories eliminate or modify the Risk Evaluation Mitigation Strategy so it is not unduly burdensome for that use.
8/30/22AWHONN joined several organizations in signing the American Nurses Association’s letter to the Honorable Chiquita Brooks-LaSure at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This letter asked for Brooks-LaSure’s leadership in ensuring the establishment and continued maintenance of safe nurse staffing levels within our nation’s hospitals.
8/2/22In response to the Proposed Rule for a Tobacco Product Standard for Menthol in Cigarettes, 87 Fed. Reg. 26,454, AWHONN joined public health, medical, education, civil rights, and community organizations to submit these comments.
8/2/22In response to the Proposed Rule for a Tobacco Product Standard for Characterizing Flavors in Cigars, 87 Fed. Reg. 26,396, AWHONN joined public health, medical, education, civil rights, and community organizations to submit these comments.
7/28/22 NCC Letter Supporting Worker’s Comp for Injured Federal Workers
AWHONN and 50 other organizations joined the Nursing Community Coalition in urging Senators Schumer and McConnell to pass H.R. 6087, the Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act. Specifically, this bill would retired outdated barriers in the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) and improve access to care by authorizing Nurse Practitioners to oversee treatment for injured or ill federal employees under FECA.
6/7/22AWHONN joins the Family Planning Coalition and other organizations in supporting Representative Pressley and Senator Murray in their introduction of the Affordability is Access Act. The Act would require insurance companies to cover any oral contraceptive approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be available over-the-counter without need for a prescription. AWHONN joined in accordance with the legislative priority to “Support initiatives that allow access to a wide range of evidence-based contraceptive options for those who seek them, including unrestricted over-the-counter access to hormonal contraceptives.
6/7/22AWHONN joined the Steering Committee of the Nursing Community Coalition in supporting H.R. 6087, the Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act. This act would retire outdated barriers in Federal Employee’s Compensation Act (FECA) that limit the ability of Nurse Practitioners to provide care and treatment for injured or ill federal employees. The current barriers place an undue burden on over two million federal employees seeking care.
5/10/22AWHONN signed onto a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies chairs and ranking members, requesting at least $239.59 billion for the subcommittees’ appropriations allocations in fiscal year 2023. This funding would address the gaps from years of underfunding and build upon the COVID-19 emergency funding enacted by Congress on a short-term basis during the peak of the public health crisis.
5/6/22In an advertisement with the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund and many like-minded organizations, AWHONN supported the FDA in prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Big Tobacco has targeted Black Americans, kids, and other communities with these products, contributing to health inequity. AWONN supports the FDA’s efforts and calls for their policy to be implemented without delay.
5/5/2022Jonathan Webb, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), used this letter to submit comments in response to the Department of Homeland Security “Public Charge” rule proposed on February 24, 2022. AWHONN supports policy initiatives that guarantee access to health care services for all people, including immigrants. Individuals who fear being considered a public charge are less likely to seek primary care. Therefore, AWHONN calls for the exclusion of all Medicaid benefits from the public charge determination.
4/25/22AWHONN joined many organizations alongside the Nursing Community Coalition to urge Congress to continue the impactful actions taken to promote patient access to care during the Public Health Emergency (PHE). This letter aims to ensure there is no lapse in patent service by eliminating waivers for the following: Physician Services, Physician Visits, Physician Delegation of Tasks in SNFs, Responsibilities of Physicians in Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) Physician Supervision, and Anesthesia Services.
4/11/22 Letter to the Senate and Letter to the House
AWHONN joined a number of organizations in collaboration with the Nursing Community Coalition to request the support of the House and the Senate, respectively, in securing $530 million for the Nursing Workforce Development Programs and $210 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in fiscal year 2023. With the increasing strain on the nursing workforce and the projected demand for future nursing professionals, this letter asserts that strong support of Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs is critical. This letter is in line with AWHONN”s commitment to support federal efforts to increase and enhance the nursing workforce.
3/15/22 International Council of Nurses and European Nursing organizations condemn invasion of Ukraine
– AWHONN joined the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN), and the European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations (EFNNMA) in condemning the illegal invasion of Ukraine. This condemnation aligns directly with AWHONN’s core values and the renewed 2022 Legislative Priority to protect nurses on the job and their patients. As the letter states, “the world’s nurses demand that the health and wellbeing of the people of Ukraine is safeguarded and that can only be achieved through lasting peace, because peace and health are inseparable."
3/10/22AWHONN signed onto a letter authored by the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT) highlighting the priorities necessary for babies, toddlers, and families to meet basic needs and succeed in the converging crises of COVID-19, ongoing racial injustice, and an uneven economic recovery. These priorities are economic security for all, high quality, affordable child care, comprehensive family supports, maternal and child health, and equitable policy implementation. By educating the public and raising awareness about these urgent priorities, the NCIT and AWHONN hope to make meaningful progress to secure the future of children and their families.
2/11/22This letter urges Congress to complete work on the full Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations rather than calling for a Continuing Resolution, which would undermine investments and economic growth in the nation as a whole. Coalition Letter on Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations | U.S. Chamber of Commerce (uschamber.com)