Thank you for supporting the VA proposal

Thank you AANP members,

Over the course of the last 60 days, we have made our voices heard loud and clear in support of the VA's proposed rule that would give veterans direct access to care provided by NPs and other APRNs in VA facilities.

Through your advocacy, you have helped bring visibility and awareness to a high quality health care solution for our veterans. Bringing awareness of the more than 4,800 NPs already in the VA system who provide the high-quality, patient-centered care needed by our veteran service men and women is a step in the right direction to reduce wait times and give timely access to high-quality health care. Through AANP members and partnership advocacy efforts, over 60,000 comments were submitted to the federal register. We congratulate you for a job well done!!

With the comment period now closed, the Department of Veterans Affairs will review all the comments submitted to the federal register. Once these comments have been reviewed, the process of drafting a final rule will begin. While there is no set timeline for this process to be completed, it is our hope that the VA will move quickly to implement this proposal. We ask that you stay tuned for our next steps as we work to urge the VA to publish a final rule in the federal register and implement this proposal as quickly as possible. In the meantime, you should know that some in the physician community will continue to aggressively lobby Congress and ask them to intervene and stop the rule from becoming final. AANP will continue to work hard and urge Congress to support the rule, and oppose any legislative effort to block its implementation. Our veterans deserve direct access to NP delivered health care - there is no time like right now!

We thank you for your participation. Your grassroots engagement is a great victory in this effort, and we are so proud. It was an unprecedented opportunity to bring a common sense solution to the health care needs of our veterans. They deserve nothing less.

Sincerely,
Cindy Cooke, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP
AANP President