Washington, DC — The National League for Nursing applauds today’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) by the U.S. House of Representatives, sending the landmark legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature. This legislation makes historic investments in health care and climate change policies that the League has urged Congress to act on for nearly two years.
Nurses are particularly pleased to see the extension of enhanced subsidies to help consumers purchase health coverage. These provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act helped millions of individuals and families enroll in marketplace health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, reaching an all-time high of 13.6 million and reducing the country’s uninsured rate to a historic low of 8 percent. The Inflation Reduction Act will further reduce the cost of health care for consumers by authorizing Medicare to directly negotiate with drug companies to lower the price of prescription drugs.
The National League for Nursing also applauds the inclusion of nearly $400 billion in critical funding for energy security and climate change programs over the next 10 years, the largest investment in climate solutions and environmental justice in the country’s history. The legislation will help reduce the emission of pollutants by 40 percent by 2030 and makes a $60 billion investment in environmental justice initiatives.
NLN Chair Kathleen Poindexter, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, interim associate dean of academic affairs at Michigan State University in Lansing said, “After months of negotiation, the enactment of this legislation is a truly historic milestone. It is not everything that the National League for Nursing hoped to achieve when President Biden first announced his “Build Back Better” agenda, but it provides critically important investments in health care access and coverage, environmental protection, and reducing costs for consumers and families.”
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NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN said, “The National League for Nursing looks forward to working with President Biden and Congress to improve maternal and child health care and to meet critical needs for expanding nursing education infrastructure and supporting the nursing and health care workforce that this legislation does not adequately address. We are pleased that the President and Congress have been able to take this important first step.”
About the National League for Nursing
Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its nearly 45,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members, comprising nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations. Learn more at NLN.org.
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Michael Keaton, Deputy Chief Communications Officer
