Legislative Action Center

President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act into law on Tuesday, March 23^rd. Almost immediate changes to health insurance coverage include (1) children are allowed to stay on their parents insurance policies until age 26, (2) individuals should not be dropped by their insurance plans (rescission of coverage), and (3) by the end of 2010 individuals should be able to find coverage in high risk pools. ONS will continue to advocate for oncology nurses and our patients as the new law is implemented.

Recently ONS participated in the following activities:

• ONS President Addresses FDA
• Oncology Nursing Society Sponsors the Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum
• Slide presentation from the 2010 ONS Mentorship session "Healthcare Reform: What does it mean to you and your patients?"
• ONS joined with others in the nursing community to advocate for nursing provisions within the Healthcare Reform bills
• Conference calls with the White House and other nursing associations where nursing leaders shared ideas on how to make sure nurses are included in the discussions.
• Carlton Brown, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, ONS president led an ONS delegation to the White House where President Obama spoke about his plan to reform America's healthcare system.
• The Oncology Nursing Society joined with others in the nursing community to put forward healthcare reform solutions for improving access, cost, and quality.
• Past ONS President Brenda Nevidjon, RN, MSN, FAAN, authors Op-Ed Commentary: "Death Panel" Rumors Are False Full story on CNN.com.