Rosemont, Ill. – Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Lauren Underwood (D-IL) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA) introduced the Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act of 2025 to secure veterans’ ability to access to high quality anesthesia care within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This critical legislation would align the VHA with current Defense Health Agency policy that allows both Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and physician anesthesiologists to be autonomous providers of anesthesia, while strengthening safety and transparency within the VHA.
The VHA has created unnecessary inefficiencies in providing anesthesia care for veterans. Ongoing physician anesthesiologist shortages and an increasing demand of aging veterans who need care mean that cumbersome supervision models are untenable. As CRNAs are trained as autonomous healthcare professionals who increasingly provide a greater share of safe anesthesia care nationwide, removing these barriers to care will benefit both veterans and taxpayers. Specifically, duplication in providing anesthesia care through unnecessary physician anesthesiologist supervision of CRNAs has consistently led to increased costs, longer wait times and delays, and even cancellations of care for veterans.
“As a veteran and practicing CRNA, I am excited to see Representatives Underwood and Kiggans introduce this critical legislation to help our veterans get the prompt care they deserve,” said Jan Setnor, MSN, CRNA, Col. (Ret), USAFR, NC president of American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA). “For too long Veterans have been denied timely access to care within the VHA due to outdated barriers and red tape that this bill would finally address.”
The failure of VHA’s current anesthesia models was highlighted by reports out of both the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and the Hampton Roads VAMC, where burdensome models led to delays and cancellations of surgeries.
CRNAs are able to practice without the supervision of a physician anesthesiologist in 49 states and the District of Columbia, but the VHA continues to utilize inefficient models that are increasingly detrimental. Multiple independent groups have supported CRNA full practice authority within the VHA, including a recent report commissioned by Temple University.
“This bill brings the first major step towards improving and streamlining veterans’ care and experience through the VHA,” added Setnor. “Allowing CRNAs to practice autonomously, like all other advance practice nurses do within the system, would immediately increase the capacity of the VHA to provide anesthesia care or other airway management skills to Veterans and decrease costs.”
For more information about the Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act and to urge your representative to support this important legislation, visit AANA’s website today.
The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) is the professional organization representing nearly 65,000 CRNAs who are anesthesia professionals that safely administer more than 58 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States. CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered: traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; ketamine clinics; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. military, Public Health Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities.