What’s Happening in Washington
Election Results – While Republicans held onto the majority in the US Senate, Democrats picked up more than the 23 seats needed to gain control of the House of Representatives when the 116th Congress convenes in January. The Democrats’ win of the House will portend serious changes in Washington, as the party is prepared to block Trump’s agenda and investigate his personal finances and potential ties to Russia. House Democrats are also now poised to take on a slew of health-related policy priorities with their control of the lower Chamber. Democrats hope to introduce legislation to bolster the Affordable Care Act’s insurance markets, rein in drug prices, and continue working to address the opioid epidemic. On the oversight side, they are expected to hold hearings on how the Trump administration has undercut the Affordable Care Act, worked to roll back contraception coverage and teen pregnancy prevention, and separated migrant children at the border.
Also of interest, 9 scientists were elected to Congress, including an ocean expert, a nurse, and a biochemist. Here is the full list.
Trump Administration Releases New Rule to Restrict Access to Contraception – On November 7, the Trump administration issued a final rule that will expand the types of employers that can seek a religious or moral exemption to the birth control mandate under the 2010 health care law. The rule allows private businesses to not cover contraceptives by citing a moral or a religious objection. Under the 2010 health care law, most private insurance plans are required to cover birth control without a copay. We have argued that this policy would reduce access to contraceptives (see our position statement) and it is expected that implementation will be delayed as the constitutionality of the rule is debated in the courts.
Plan S Effort to Expand Open Access Gains Support – On November 5, two of the world’s largest biomedical research funders — the London-based Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — announced they were both endorsing ‘Plan S’, a plan to make all papers resulting from work they fund open access on publication by 2020. This announcement adds weight to an initiative already backed by 13 research funders across Europe since its launch in September. It means that work funded by them will not be able to appear in Nature, Science, JCEM, and other influential subscription journals unless these publications permit papers to be published under open access terms. We are working with several other Society journals to share concerns about the impact of open access on peer review and our journals’ business models.
What We Are Working On
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) – On November 7, the European Commission released a Communication on EDCs that announces plans for a “fitness check” to review existing legislation related to EDCs. The Communication and fitness check are steps towards the development of a new strategy on EDCs. We are pleased the Commission highlighted the need for better test methods and additional research funding for EDCs, but we expressed concern that the Communication fails to identify specific policy actions to harmonize regulatory approaches to EDCs or set targets for the identification of harmful EDCs currently in commerce with replacement with safer alternatives. (Read our press release) Later this month, Endocrine Society members in the European Union will travel to Brussels to share our reaction and with European Commission and Members of the European Parliament and urge them to implement policy solutions without delay.
Endocrine Society Meets with NCI and CSR – On November 8, Research Affairs Core Committee (RACC) members Ruth Keri and Matt Ringel met with leadership from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review (CSR) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) to discuss shared objectives and research priorities. Drs. Keri and Ringel discussed ways the Endocrine Society and CSR could work together to ensure that NIH review panels include endocrine expertise, including from Society members who are not currently funded by NIH. CSR expressed interest in sharing information about the review process with our members, including ways for early career investigators to learn more about how NIH conducts grant reviews and how they can get involved, for instance through the early career reviewer program. Participants at the meeting with NCI were excited about ways that Endocrine Society members could help identify emerging research topics that cross multiple institutes at NIH, including underfunded areas where researchers are struggling to find sources of support for projects. The group also discussed how to support researchers at all stages of the career pipeline through various support mechanisms. Participants at both meetings shared a commitment to ongoing dialogue and outreach to Endocrine Society members.
Diabetes Awareness Month – November is Diabetes Awareness Month and so we have several diabetes-related advocacy efforts underway:
- DSMT Legislation Campaign – Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate that would expand access to diabetes self-management training (DSMT). We support this bipartisan legislation and encourage our members to join our campaign and urge Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act of 2018.
- Twitter Chat – On November 13 the Society hosted a twitter chat discussing diabetes technology. Society member Jennifer Sherr, and our chief professional and clinical affairs officer Robert Lash moderated the chat, featuring discussion on what diabetes technology is available now, where diabetes technology could be going in the future, and how to manage the transition from pediatric to adult diabetes care. t
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