Washington Highlights: February
18, 2005
Senators, Provider
Groups React to Medicaid Reform Proposals
Contents
Prior Issues
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Expressing concern that reforming Medicaid through budget reconciliation
"is not a dialogue or conversation," Sen. Jeff Bingaman
(D-N.M.) joined Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) Feb. 9 to introduce bipartisan
legislation (S.
338) that would establish a Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid.
Comprised of state and federal legislators, policy experts, providers,
and beneficiaries, the 23-member Bipartisan Commission would have
14 months to conduct hearings, commission research, and make recommendations
on how to best address rising Medicaid expenditures within the context
of tight state and federal budgets.
During his floor statements introducing the bill, Sen. Smith explained
that "[f]or too long Medicaid has gone unnoticed by policy
makers…even though it recently became the nation's largest
health care program." Sen. Smith added "we have a unique
opportunity in the history of the Medicaid program. For once, everyone
seems to be focused on protecting and improving the program. The
challenge lies in bringing everyone together."
Cosponsors for S. 338 include Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Jim
Jeffords (I-Vt.), Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Mike
Dewine (R-Ohio), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.),
Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.),
George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.),
John Ensign (R-Nev.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.),
Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and John McCain
(R-Ariz.). A House companion bill is expected to be introduced shortly.
A Feb. 15 letter
to Congress signed by 21 provider groups expressed similar concerns
that the "Medicaid reductions as outlined in the President's
budget proposal" may undermine efforts "to ensure that
our healthcare safety net is reliable, secure, and provides quality
care to our nation's poor and elderly." It urged Congress "to
reject any proposal that will put our most vulnerable citizens in
jeopardy."
Information:
Christiane Mitchell, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
cmitchell@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Stem Cell Lines
Some of the foremost congressional champions of stem cell research
held a joint press conference on Capitol Hill Feb. 16 to announce
bipartisan legislation to expand the current federal policy on research
involving human embryonic stem cells.
The "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005" would
expand the Administration's policy on federal support for research
using human embryonic stem cell lines. Under the current federal
policy, only stem cell lines derived before Aug. 9, 2001, are eligible
for federally funded research. The proposed legislation would lift
that restriction, permitting federally funded research on human
embryonic stem cell lines regardless of the date on which they were
derived. The legislation also would direct the National Institutes
of Health to develop appropriate ethical guidelines for future derivation
of human stem cell lines.
Reps. Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) are leading
the effort on the House bill (H.R. 810), which has more than 150
cosponsors. Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
are leading the Senate proposal, which also is cosponsored by Senators
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.),
and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR),
which is composed of more than 90 nationally recognized organizations
including the AAMC, has endorsed the legislation. In a Feb. 15 letter
to the bills' cosponsors, CAMR noted, "More than three years
have passed since President Bush articulated the current federal
policy in this area in a nationally televised statement in August
2001. Since then, we have learned much more about the potential
of research on human stem cells to open vistas of scientific research
for future therapies and cures that could save millions of lives
at risk today…. We have also learned that the limitations placed
by the existing federal policy are consigning U.S. medical research
to the sidelines even as other nations are hurrying to develop this
field."
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
House Appropriations Committee Reorganizes
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.)
Feb. 11 announced a new
organizational structure for the committee that reduces the
number of subcommittees from 13 to 10 by eliminating the Legislative
Branch and District of Columbia subcommittees and dividing up the
programs under the VA-HUD subcommittee into the remaining subcommittees.
Legislative Branch appropriations will now be handled at the full
committee level, and jurisdiction over funding for the District
of Columbia will move to the Transportation, Treasury, HUD and Judiciary
subcommittee.
Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) remains chairman of the Labor, Health and
Human Services, Education and Related Agencies subcommittee, and
David Obey (D-Wis.) will continue as the ranking Democratic member.
The only change to the make-up of Labor-HHS subcommittee is the
addition of Rep. James Walsh (R-N.Y.) to replace Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).
Appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs will now be
handled by the Military Quality of Life Subcommittee, to be chaired
by Rep. Walsh who moves over from the VA-HUD subcommittee; Chet
Edwards (D-Texas) will be the ranking member. Jurisdiction over
the National Science Foundation will move to the Science, State,
Justice and Commerce subcommittee, and be chaired by Frank Wolf
(R-Va.) with Alan Mollohan (D.-W.Va.) as the ranking member.
Senate Panel Approves Slate of Health Bills
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee
Feb. 9 passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (S.
306), the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act (S.
265) and the Children's Hospital Educational Equity and Research
(CHEER) Act (S.
285). Sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), S. 306 seeks
to bar employers from using genetic information in employment decisions
and to prohibit insurers from using it to make coverage decisions.
The full Senate passed the bill Feb. 17 and sent it to the House
where it is expected to languish due to objections from the business
community.
Cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), S. 265 reauthorizes the trauma care
program through FY 2009 and increases trauma care and emergency
services research and development, with an emphasis on improving
care in rural areas. It also commissions an Institute of Medicine
study on the state of trauma care and research.
S. 285 is sponsored by Sens. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Kennedy and reauthorizes
the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program at $330
million for FY 2006 and such sums as necessary through FY 2010.
This program, created in 2000, provides funds to freestanding children's
hospitals to support the training of pediatric and other residents
in graduate medical education programs. This bill and S. 265 have
not yet been placed on the Senate calendar.
Information:
Erica Froyd, Director, Public Health and Research Legislative Affairs
AAMC Government Relations
efroyd@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Crawford Formally Nominated for FDA Post
President Bush Feb. 14 formally announced his intention to nominate
Lester M. Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D., to be Commissioner of the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Crawford has served as the Acting
Commissioner since March 2004. Previously, Dr. Crawford was Chair
of the Department of Physiology-Pharmacology at the University of
Georgia, Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service
(USDA) and Deputy Commissioner of FDA. From 1997-2002, he was Director
of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University
and at Virginia Tech, where it moved in 2001. Dr. Crawford received
his D.V.M. from Auburn University, and his Ph.D. in pharmacology
from the University of Georgia.
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