Here is a quick rundown of major issues being discussed by policymakers from an endocrine perspective and the Society’s current advocacy work.
What’s Happening in Washington:
For Congress: Much to Do and Not Much Time
It was a busy week in Washington in between unnamed White House sources writing opinion pieces and the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. The pressure is on for appropriators to work out the differences on FY 2019 spending bills before the September 30 deadline.
Republican leaders said their plan is to bring nine of the 12 spending bills for votes this month, while taking up a separate Continuing Resolution to fund the remainder of agency operations (Homeland Security, State-Foreign Ops, Commerce-Justice-Science) beyond the midterm elections. Happily, progress is being made on the combined Labor-HHS/Defense spending bill with conference negotiations moving forward using the Senate’s allocation of $179.29 billion, which is $2.2 billion higher than the House committee-approved version. We expect heated debates over stark differences between the chambers’ measures on Title X family planning grants, teen pregnancy prevention programs, and the “conscience clause,” which protects the legal rights of health care providers who refuse to perform abortions, will be resolved by congressional leaders. If progress falls apart, however, any federal programs funded on the Continuing Resolution will be at current levels, which happen to be $36 billion lower than the FY 2019 caps established in the bipartisan budget deal. And, even if the Congress succeeds in passing a bill and getting it to the President’s desk, President Trump is again asking advisers whether it would be politically expedient to provoke an October government shutdown fight over the inclusion of federal funds for his border wall…
What We are Working on:
Medicare Physician Payment – The 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposes significant changes to how evaluation and management (E/M) services will be documented and paid. We are extremely concerned about the impact on endocrinologists who primarily bill level 4 and 5 office visits of collapsing the level 2 through 5 visits.
- Comments to CMS – We submitted comments to CMS on proposed revisions to payment policies under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2019 that would affect Endocrine Society members.
- Campaign – Please join our online campaign and tell your Representative to sign the letter, initiated by Representatives Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) urging CMS to delay implementation of the proposal and suggests that the agency work with physicians and other stakeholders to develop an alternative approach that would accomplish the agency’s goals.
NIH Funding – We are getting ready for the Rally for Medical Research Hill Day and National Day of Action September 13 when hundreds of researchers, physicians, and patients will come to DC to urge Congress to provide at least a $2 billion increase for NIH in FY 2019 and to complete action on the spending bill before the October 1 deadline.
- Campaign – We will send an Advocacy Alert to researcher members of the Society and ask them to join us virtually at the Rally for Medical Research September 13 by participating in our online campaign.
- Website – Check out our new web page on NIH Funding, including information on the Rally for Medical Research
- Social Media – We will be doing a lot of social media related to the Rally for Medical Research #RallyMedRes #FundHealth
- Staff Campaign – We are inviting all Society staff to join us in the days leading up to the Rally by posting a photo with an “I Rally For” sign #IRallyFor
Insulin Pricing – We conducted roundtable discussion groups during CEU in Miami to hear from participants about the problems their patients face paying for insulin and their policy recommendations to include in a Society position statement. These sessions were packed and filled with a lot of passion and frustration. We will send our draft position statement to members September 8 for a public comment period.
Legislative & Regulatory Comment Letters – In addition, this week we sent the following letters:
- Endocrine Society Comments on Competitive Bidding Program
This comment letter addresses concerns with the Competitive Bidding Program and its impact on the ability for patients with diabetes to access high-quality durable medical equipment and other supplies needed to manage their disease. - Exclusion of Gender Alterations from the Medical Benefits Package
We submitted comments to the Department of Veterans Administration’s request for information related to gender alteration surgeries.
To find out how you can become more involved in endocrine advocacy, please contact [email protected].
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