[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 153 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 153

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 15, 2002

  Ms. Collins (for herself and Mr. Feingold) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


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

Whereas visiting nurse associations 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 approximately 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 annual 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 Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that there should be established a 
annual National Visiting Nurse Associations Week.
                                 <all>