Washington Highlights: October 3,
2008
President Signs Spending Bill
Contents
Prior Issues
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President Bush Sept. 30 signed a continuing resolution (P.L.
110-329) to fund most of the federal government at FY 2008 levels
through March 6, 2009, allowing Congress to negotiate final FY 2009
spending decisions with a new administration. The bill also includes
the full FY 2009 spending bills for defense, homeland security,
and military construction-VA, including increases over FY 2008 for
VA medical care and VA research.
In a statement,
President Bush noted that he was "disappointed" that Congress
opted to postpone the appropriations process to March. The Senate
Sept. 27 approved the package, 78-12, while the House voted Sept.
24, 370-58 [see Washington Highlights,
Sept. 26].
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
AAMC Submits Joint Comment Letter on Human Subject
Protection Training and Education
The AAMC, with the Council on Governmental Relations and Association
of American Universities, Sept. 26 submitted a comment letter
to the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), in response
to a July 1 "Request for Information [RFI] and Comments on
the Implementation of Human Subjects Protection Training and Education
Programs" [see Washington
Highlights, July 11].
The letter emphasizes the evolution of local educational and training
programs, supports the role of the Federalwide Assurance (FWA),
and denies the need for additional guidance or regulations on the
issue of human subject protection and training. The letter also
encourages OHRP to expand mechanisms to fund the development of
training tools and modules at a national level.
Information:
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Sens. Schumer and Clinton Introduce Bill to Delay
Capital IME Cuts
Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Oct.
1 introduced the "Preserving Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act
of 2008" (S.
3656), which retroactively delays for 6 months (from Oct. 1,
2008 until March 31, 2009) a 2-year phase-out of capital IME payments
for teaching hospitals. Without legislative intervention, Medicare's
FY 2009 Inpatient PPS Final Rule reduces by 50 percent the IME adjustment
under the capital reimbursement system, effective Oct. 1, 2008.
The Final Rule completely eliminates the capital IME adjustment
in FY 2010 [see Washington Highlights,
Aug. 8].
The bill also will delay by 6 months implementation of the Medicaid
outpatient proposed rule, which was not addressed by the recently
enacted "Medicaid Moratorium" (P.L.
110-252). The PATH Act fully offsets the costs of the capital
IME provisions ($86 million over 5 years), Medicaid outpatient provisions
($45 million over 5 years), and other provisions in the bill, by
establishing a Medicaid initiative to improve coding accuracy and
by extending a California-based family planning demonstration program.
Information:
Travis W. Crytzer, Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
tcrytzer@aamc.org
(202) 828-0418
Congress Approves Conrad Visa Waiver Program Extension,
Increases Flex-Slots
The Senate Sept. 26 and the House Sept. 27 approved legislation
(H.R.
5571) to extend the Conrad 30 State J-1 visa waiver program
through March 6, 2009. The bill also includes an AAMC-supported
provision that doubles to 10 the program's "flex-slots,"
the number of physicians per state who may serve in facilities,
often teaching hospitals, that are located outside medically underserved
areas but that treat patients from those areas.
The State Conrad 30 program allows state departments of health
to request waivers of the J-1 visa home country service requirement
for up to 30 foreign physicians per year to work in federally designated
health professions shortage or medically underserved areas. The
House originally passed the bill in May with a 5-year authorization
to 2013, but the Senate shortened the extension to 6 months by amendment
and the House concurred with that change.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) had proposed more extensive reforms in
a bill (S.
2672) introduced Feb. 27 [see Washington
Highlights, Feb. 29].
AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., sent an April 2 letter
supporting the proposed reforms in S. 2672.
Information:
Matthew Shick, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
mshick@aamc.org
(202) 862-6116
DeGette, Castle Introduce New Stem Cell Research
Legislation
Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Michael Castle (R-Del.) Sept.
26 introduced a new "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of
2008" (H.R.
7141) that builds upon the original bill (H.R.
3) in preparation for the new administration and 111th Congress.
In a Sept. 27 press release, Rep. DeGette indicated that the bill
"not only reverses President Bush's draconian restrictions,
but it also puts in place an overarching ethical framework for all
stem cell research, adult and embryonic, to move forward."
The measure would require the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
to develop federal guidelines for human stem cell research within
90 days of enactment and provides for periodic updates to the guidelines
as scientifically warranted, but at least every 3 years. The bill
also updates the reporting requirements section from H.R. 3 to comply
with the biennial reporting requirements set out in the "NIH
Reform Act of 2006" (P.L.
109-482).
The House passed H.R. 3 on Jan. 11, 2007 [see Washington
Highlights, Jan.
12, 2007]. A nearly identical measure (S.
5) was approved by both the House and the Senate before President
Bush vetoed it on June 20, 2007 [see Washington
Highlights, June
22, 2007].
Rep. DeGette also introduced on Sept. 26, H.R. 7140, a bill to
increase protections for human subjects in research. An earlier
draft of that bill extended application of the Common Rule to all
human subject research and required that the Secretary of Health
and Human Services review the extent to which various human subject
provisions can be harmonized.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Tony Mazzaschi, Senior Director
AAMC Scientific Affairs
tmazzaschi@aamc.org
(202) 828-0059
IRS Sends Compliance Questionnaires to Colleges
and Universities
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Oct. 1 announced that approximately
400 U.S. colleges and universities will receive compliance surveys
in the next few days as part of the agency's focused effort to study
key activities of tax-exempt institutions. According to the IRS
press release,
"the college and university questionnaire
will focus on unrelated business income, endowments and executive
compensation practices. The questionnaires are being sent to a cross-section
of small, mid-sized and large private and public four-year colleges
and institutions."
The IRS expects to receive most of the responses within the next
several months, analyze the results of the compliance questionnaire
and conduct examinations of a sample of the organizations. The agency
expects to issue a report on the project in 2009.
Information:
Matthew Shick, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
mshick@aamc.org
(202) 862-6116
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