American Association of Nurse Anesthetists: Update on HCFA’s Proposal to Remove Supervision Requirement for Nurse Anesthetists

Abstract

For more than 2 years, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) have been at odds over a proposed rule by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that would defer to state law on the issue of physician supervision of nurse anesthetists. Both organizations have aggressively lobbied Congress to support their position and made extensive use of the media to educate and persuade the public relative to supervision. Since March 9, 2000, when HCFA informed AANA and ASA that it intends to implement its proposed rule and publish it in the Federal Register in June, the conflict between the two organizations has escalated. This article discusses the events that have occurred since the March 9th notification by HCFA.