[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 481 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 481

Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be established a 
               National Visiting Nurse Associations Week.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 2002

  Mr. Markey submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be established a 
               National Visiting Nurse Associations Week.

Whereas visiting nurse associations (VNAs) are nonprofit home health agencies 
        that, for over 120 years, have been united in their mission to provide 
        cost-effective and compassionate home and community-based health care to 
        individuals, regardless of the individuals' condition or ability to pay 
        for services;
Whereas there are more than 500 visiting nurse associations, which employ more 
        than 90,000 clinicians, provide health care to more than 4,000,000 
        people each year, and provide a critical safety net in communities by 
        developing a network of community support services that enable 
        individuals to live independently at home;
Whereas visiting nurse associations have historically served as primary public 
        health care providers in their communities, and are today one of the 
        largest providers of mass immunizations in the medicare program 
        (delivering over 2,500,000 influenza immunizations annually);
Whereas visiting nurse associations are often the home health providers of last 
        resort, serving the most chronic of conditions (such as congestive heart 
        failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, AIDS, and quadriplegia) 
        and individuals with the least ability to pay for services (more than 50 
        percent of all medicaid home health admissions are by visiting nurse 
        associations);
Whereas any visiting nurse association budget surplus is reinvested in 
        supporting the association's mission through services, including charity 
        care, adult day care centers, wellness clinics, Meals-on-Wheels, and 
        immunization programs;
Whereas visiting nurse associations and other nonprofit home health agencies 
        care for the highest percentage of terminally ill and bedridden 
        patients;
Whereas thousands of visiting nurse association volunteers across the Nation 
        devote time serving as individual agency board members, raising funds, 
        visiting patients in their homes, assisting in wellness clinics, and 
        delivering meals to patients; and
Whereas the establishment of a National Visiting Nurse Associations Week for the 
        second full week of every February would increase public awareness of 
        the charity-based missions of visiting nurse associations and of their 
        ability to meet the needs of chronically ill and disabled individuals 
        who prefer to live at home rather than in a nursing home, and would 
        spotlight preventive health clinics, adult day care programs, and other 
        customized wellness programs that meet local community need: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that there should be established a 
National Visiting Nurse Associations Week.
                                 <all>