January 2008 Advocacy Update

Congress Returns to Full Agenda
The House and Senate are set to reconvene following a brief winter adjournment. With a wealth of unfinished business remaining from 2007 and an abbreviated year due to the November elections, 2008 looks to be a busy year for Congress.

The House returned on January 15 and the Senate is set to reconvene on January 22. However, neither the House nor Senate is expected to complete much legislative business prior to President Bush’s annual State of the Union address on January 28.

A number of legislative issues important to ASH are pending:

FY 2009 NIH Appropriations
One of the first pieces of legislative business to confront Congress in 2008 will be the beginning of the process of establishing the FY 2009 budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies. The President is set to unveil his FY 2009 budget proposal to Congress on February 4, marking the beginning of the FY 2009 budget process. It is expected that the proposal will offer only a marginal increase for NIH over the final FY 2008 funding level, with a proposal from the Administration for level-funding – or a potential funding cut – a more likely possibility.

ASH remains active in advocating for increased NIH funding and will be launching a grassroots advocacy campaign concerning the FY 2009 appropriations bills as soon as the proposed FY 2009 budget is released. Please visit the Policy and Practice News page on the ASH Web site in early February for additional information on the proposed FY 2009 budget for NIH.

Medicare Physician Reimbursement
The Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 delayed the scheduled (negative) -10.1 percent update to the physician fee schedule but only until July 1, 2008. ASH is working with other specialty societies and organized medicine to prevent the scheduled cuts from being implemented. Additional information and online advocacy tools will be forwarded to ASH members shortly. For more information, please see ASH’s summary of this legislation.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
Though approved by an overwhelming majority of the house in April of last year, the Senate has not yet acted on its version of the GINA. The legislation would protect individuals from discrimination in health insurance policies and employment on the basis of their genetic information. The President has indicated his support for legislation to protect genetic information privacy and has stated he will sign the bill when it is finally presented to him.

Congressional leaders have indicated they may attempt to incorporate this and other unfinished health legislation into a larger Medicare bill they will consider later this year that will, among other items, prevent the 10 percent Medicare pay cut for physicians that is scheduled to go into effect on June 30. It is important for ASH members to continue to weigh in with their Senators about the need to enact genetic information privacy legislation. Please visit the ASH Advocacy Center to send an e-mail to your Senators to strengthen support for this important bill.

Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act
Also still in limbo is the fate of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 3/S. 5), which passed Congress in 2007 but was vetoed by President Bush. House and Senate advocates of the legislation have pledged to make this a continued priority during the second session of the 110th Congress and have promised a vote to attempt to override the President’s veto and to explore additional means to expand federally funded stem cell research; however, it remains unclear whether the bill has the two-thirds majority support necessary to override the veto. As in 2006, supporters of expanding federally funded stem cell research may seek to make this an issue in the November elections in an attempt to sway the votes of Members of Congress who originally voted against the bill.

ASH Responds to NHLBI Request for Information on Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); Recommends Sickle Cell Research Agenda
In May 2007, ASH conducted a workshop on SCD with the goal to construct a research agenda aimed at better defining risk factors that predict later adverse outcomes in sickle cell disease.

The workshop discussions centered on target organs known to suffer dysfunction in adult patients. The participants reviewed the most deleterious sequelae of SCD; discussed traditional and new methods for measuring and monitoring organ function and predicting risks of complications; examined preventive therapies available for patients with disease-associated complications; and analyzed and prioritized risk determinants. Prevention and management of pain were given particularly high priority.

To view the workshop recommendations, please see the Society’s response to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI’s) Request for Information (RFI): Defining a Research Agenda for Sickle Cell Disease and Other Hemoglobinopathies.

NIH Sponsors Consensus Development Conference on Hydroxyurea Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease
The NHLBI and the Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR) of NIH are sponsoring a Consensus Development Conference on Hydroxyurea Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease on February 25–27, 2008. To learn more about the conference and see a full agenda visit the NIH conference Web site.

Updated Federal Grants Information on ASH Web Site
Be sure to visit the Federal Research Grant Opportunities page on the ASH Web site for a frequently-updated list of the latest hematology-related funding opportunities available through NIH and other federal agencies and departments. ASH has made this page easily accessible through the "Education and Careers" section of the Web site. We encourage members to visit this listing regularly to view the latest available grants.

Practice Update
For the latest information concerning physician reimbursement issues and other issues of importance to practicing physicians, please see the latest ASH Practice Update.