AAMC Letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committees
on VA Research Funding
June 5, 2000
The Honorable James Walsh
Chairman
Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
2351 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Walsh:
On behalf of the members of the Association of American Medical
Colleges (AAMC) I write to express our strong support for
the VA medical and prosthetics research program in the VA,
HUD, and Independent Agencies appropriations bill. The AAMC
represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; some 400
major teaching hospitals, including 74 Veterans Administration
medical centers; 91 academic and professional societies representing
87,000 faculty members; and the nation's 67,000 medical students
and 102,000 residents.
As you deliberate on the FY 2001 VA Appropriations bill,
we urge you to consider the recommendations of the Friends
of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA), a coalition
of over 90 national academic, medical, and scientific societies,
voluntary health and patient advocacy organizations, and industry.
FOVA proposes an FY 2001 appropriation for the VA medical
and prosthetics research program of $386 million, an increase
of $65 million (20.2 percent), in order to put the program
back on track to recover from years of minimal increases.
We believe such an increase is justified by four basic needs.
First, the maintenance of current services that provide high-quality
research into diseases and conditions prevalent in the veteran
population. Second, given the current environment of scientific
discovery, we believe it is essential that VA capitalize on
the current opportunities through initiatives such as the
Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) and the Research
Enhancement Award Program (REAP) as well as increasing the
number of investigator-initiated grants. Third, we support
additional training and education programs at the VA to develop
a future pool of investigators trained in fields such as geriatrics,
rehabilitation and health services research. Finally, we believe
that additional funding is needed to improve research oversight
and support VA's efforts to establish both internal and external
accreditation processes.
If the VA research program is flat-lined in accordance with
the FY 2001 administration request, VA estimates that all
ongoing merit review projects would need to be cut by 10 -
15 percent, and funding of new initiatives would be delayed
indefinitely. Also, VA would be unable to increase its research
efforts into priority areas such as diabetes, Parkinson's
disease, prostate cancer, heart diseases and Hepatitis C that
are prevalent among the veteran population.
A robust VA research program is one of the keys to maintaining
a high-quality health care system for our nation's veterans
and developing the next generation of physician-scientists.
As you consider the FY 2001 VA Appropriations bill, please
support an increase of at least $386 million for the VA medical
and prosthetics line item.
Sincerely,
Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
|
