Advocacy in Action: Shutdown, Transgender Health, and More

Here is a quick run down of major issues being discussed by policymakers from an endocrine perspective and the Society’s current advocacy work. Let us know if you would like additional information or have any questions.

What’s Happening in Washington

Shutdown Standstill – Now in its fourth week, the partial government shutdown is the longest in US history, and negotiations are at an impasse. President Donald Trump has insisted that government remain shut down until a Southern boarder wall is funded.  Democrats, however, have remained resolute that the president and Republican lawmakers should end the shutdown before reopening the debate over how to secure US borders and reform immigration laws.  To that end, the House has passed a series of measures to reopen the agencies, but legislation is stalled because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the Senate will not take up any legislation that the president refuses to sign, placing the two parties in a standoff.  Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continued to put pressure on President Trump by recommending to postpone his January 29 State of the Union (SOTU) speech. She cited concerns about whether the hobbled government can provide adequate security, but Republicans cast her move as a ploy to deny President Trump the stage.

In addition to the SOTU, other casualties of the partial government shutdown include increasing lines at airports as furloughed TSA agents don’t show up for work; increasing risk of contaminated foods as FDA begins to limit food safety inspections; and postponement or cancellation of government meetings (the Clinical Care Commission has cancelled its January meeting to discuss diabetes strategy).  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) although funded, is also beginning to feel some indirect but important effects from the shutdown.  Because the US printing office is furloughed, people can’t get advisory committee notices out in the federal register.  So, even for the agencies that are open, the shutdown is mucking up scheduling for federal advisory committees, and at the extreme, this might change when grants can be reviewed by Council.  It is not clear if this could also affect grant review panels at the Center for Scientific Review level.

Drug Pricing – Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and a longtime critic of manufacturers of high-cost prescription drugs, announced he was launching an investigation into 12 companies, including insulin manufacturers Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi. Representative Cummings said he’s focused on companies that make the drugs which have had the greatest price increases in the past five years or are among the costliest for the Medicare Part D program or beneficiaries.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is also making the rounds on the Hill to discuss the administration’s proposal to price certain drugs in the Medicare Part B outpatient program on prices in certain foreign countries. Senator Grassley said some members panel members showed interest in the plan while others opposed it, but said the meeting was “in no way confrontational.”  The drug industry, however, strongly opposes the proposal arguing it would undermine Medicare beneficiary access to drugs and reduce investments for research into new drugs.

Women’s Health & Reproductive Rights – Thousands of abortion opponents took to the streets of Capitol Hill on January 18 for the nation’s largest annual anti-abortion rally, coinciding with a flood of anti-abortion action from government officials that underscore the movement’s priorities for 2019. In the House and Senate, however, pro-choice policies are gaining support.  The Senate rejected a key procedural motion on January 17 on a bill that would permanently ban taxpayer-funded abortion. In the House, members of the pro-choice caucus and advocates outlined their priorities earlier this week for advancing abortion rights and other women’s health issues in this Congress, hoping to counteract the Trump administration’s proposed changes to Title X, the nation’s family planning program, as well as administrative efforts to restrict abortion and contraception access domestically and globally.

Sexual Harassment in Research Legislation – Last week, the new Chair of the House Science and Technology Committee, Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and ranking member Frank Lucas (R-OK) introduced a bill directing the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to adopt a common policy on sexual harassment for all federal agencies that fund research. The bill encourages the adoption of policies similar to the National Science Foundation policy announced in 2018.

What We Are Working On:

Healthy People 2030 –We provided comments on the Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2030 national objectives. The Society provided general comments on the objectives, as well as some focused on diabetes, nutrition and weight status, osteoporosis, and environmental health.

Diabetes

• Special Diabetes Program – We are working with ADA and JDRF on a strategy to advocate for renewal of the Special Diabetes Program.  We are hoping to increase both the amount of funding and the length of the program authorization (from 2 years to 5).  We understand this would be consistent with the House of Representatives’ goals.  In the Senate, we expect Senators Lamar Alexander (R-LA) and Patty Murray(D-WA) will introduce a bill to extend the Special Diabetes Program imminently.  The Senate bill will reauthorize SDP at the current funding level for five years.
• Diabetes Funding – We provided the Congressional Diabetes Caucus with our asks for federal diabetes programs in FY 2020. We are supporting $185 million for the Division of Diabetes Translation and $30 million for the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

Transgender Health – We joined an amicus curiae (Friend of the Court) brief in the case of Reiyn Keohane v. Florida Departments of Corrections Secretary providing the medical perspective on what it means to be transgender and to suffer from gender dysphoria.

Women’s Health Research – We are working with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and numerous scholarly and scientific groups around the country, including Endocrine Society member Teresa  Woodruff’s Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern University, on a resolution to recognize January 25 as Women’s Health Research Day.