Washington Highlights: January 21,
2005
Leavitt Encounters
Friendly Committee Hearings
Contents
Prior Issues
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The Senate
Finance Committee Jan. 19 held a confirmation hearing on the
nomination of Michael O. Leavitt to be Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services. While nearly all Senators expressed
support for the nominee, the Committee was unable to assemble a
quorum, thereby delaying the expected vote of approval. The Finance
Committee has formal jurisdiction over the nomination before it
reaches the Senate floor, Mr. Leavitt also appeared before the Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Jan. 18.
The HELP Committee did not vote on the nomination; however, Chairman
Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) indicated he would poll the committee and pass
their impressions on to the Finance Committee. Mr. Leavitt currently
serves as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and is a former Governor of Utah.
At both hearings, Mr. Leavitt noted his expectation that implementation
of the Medicare Modernization Act, and specifically the Medicare
prescription drug benefit, would be the "main event at HHS"
in 2005. He also called Medicaid a "vital program" but
said that it is "not meeting its potential" and that resources
could be used more wisely. Mr. Leavitt called the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) three "names
of trust," and stated, "We cannot allow these American
treasures to be lost." In his written testimony, Mr. Leavitt
also expressed his support for passage of comprehensive medical
liability reform.
CMS Publishes Plan to Redistribute Unspent FY
2002 SCHIP Funds
The Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) outlined how
it will redistribute nearly $643 million in unspent FY 2002 allotments
from the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in a
Jan. 19 Federal Register notice [70
FR 3036]. The funds are a portion of the $1 billion in unspent
SCHIP allotments that reverted to the U.S. Treasury on Oct. 1, 2004.
To qualify for the redistributed funds, states must have fully
spent their FY 2002 SCHIP allotments by Oct. 1, 2004. According
to the notice, 28 states qualify for redistributed funds: Alabama,
Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota,
West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Under the new process, CMS will direct about $237 million in unspent
allotments to the five states with projected funding shortfalls
for FY 2005: Arizona, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Rhode
Island. The amounts will be based on each state's projected shortfall.
CMS will then distribute about $399 million in unspent allotments
among the other eligible states, using the redistribution methodology
already in place.
The redistributed funds will be available to the designated states
until Sept. 30, 2005. The public may submit comments on the notice
until Feb. 18. According to the notice, CMS expects to publish regular
notices on redistribution methodologies for FY 2003 and subsequent
years.
Information:
Christiane Mitchell, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
cmitchell@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
HHS Releases Report on Medical Innovation
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson
Jan. 13 announced the release of an intra-agency task force's recommendations
to streamline and improve the department's role in medical innovation.
The HHS announcement notes that, "[d]uring the process of safety
and efficacy review new technologies often run into unnecessary
hurdles…. The task force examined ways to better coordinate
this process across the department, to streamline the way HHS does
business." Recommendations include developing new agreements
for HHS to cooperate with other federal agencies, creating a forum
for investigators and manufacturers to communicate with HHS agencies,
standardizing electronic formats for clinical trial data, and interagency
education and cross-training of department personnel. The report
specifically calls for improved collaboration between the Center
for Medicare Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA).
The Task Force consisted of Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford,
D.V.M., Ph.D., (chair); CMS administrator Mark McClellan, M.D.,
Ph.D.; National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D.;
National Cancer Institute Director Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D.;
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Director Carolyn Clancy,
M.D.; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie
Gerberding, M.D. Their report underscores many major activities
already in progress within these agencies, including the NIH Roadmap
and the FDA's Critical Path Initiative.
Information:
Stephen Heinig, Lead Science Policy Analyst
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sheinig@aamc.org
(202) 828-0488
On the Hill
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has scheduled a Jan. 24 confirmation
hearing for Secretary of Veterans Affairs designee Jim Nicholson.
The former Chairman of the Republican National Committee and Ambassador
to the Vatican was nominated by President Bush to succeed Secretary
Anthony Principi.
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