capitol hill report: ADVOCACY WITH FDA, CMS, CDC, AND CONGRESS PRODUCES RESULTS

October 12, 2021

Latest Advocacy News

As previously requested by the AAN, the Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the booster shots for health care workers, teachers and others at occupational risk for COVID-19. The CDC decision broke with an independent advisory group that recommended extra doses for older adults, people in nursing homes and those with underlying medical conditions, but not frontline workers.
On September 21, the AAN, along with the American Geriatric Society and the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging met with officials from the Coverage and Analysis Group at CMS to discuss the importance of beta amyloid PET scans for the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. This meeting was held in response to the letter these three specialty societies sent to CMS in July after the controversial approval of aducanumab on the same topic. Officials from CMS were grateful for the commentary from AAN experts and expressed interest in continued contact with AAN members as they make their decisions regarding beta amyloid PET scans and amyloid therapies, such as aducanumab, more broadly.
The AAN published a position statement titled "Ethical Perspectives on Costly Drugs and Health Care", which examines ethical concerns surrounding high drug prices and how they can impact patient care, including limiting access to treatment and posing direct challenges for distributive justice—the fair distribution of benefits and burdens across society.
Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government open past the end of the fiscal year on September 31. The measure will keep federal government departments and agencies operating under current funding levels until December 3, 2021. The CR also extends the availability of funds for multi-year NIH grants that were obligated in FY 2016 and were interrupted due to COVID-19. The Senate has also agreed to raise the debt ceiling through December 3 to avoid default on US financial obligations.
Congress is seeking a path forward to reconcile differences within the Democratic caucus on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act, a proposed reconciliation package which only requires a simple majority and bypasses the filibuster. The legislation includes multiple health care provisions, such as Medicare expansion and lowering prescription drug prices. Learn more about the AAN’s priorities in any year-end legislation.

Issue In Focus

On September 29, 93 AAN members from 44 states connected with their senators and representatives for the Academy’s third Legislative Summit. Conducted virtually, the advocates pressed 188 lawmakers to support three major issues:

Support for the neurology workforce through the Resident Physician Shortage Act of 2021 (S. 834/H.R. 2256), which would provide 14,000 additional graduate medical education (GME) positions; and the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act (S. 1810/H.R. 3541), which would reauthorize and improve the Conrad State 30 program used by international medical graduates
Permanent expansion of telehealth access through the Telehealth Modernization Act (S. 368/H.R. 1332) or the CONNECT for Health Act (S. 1512/H.R. 2903)
Protection of Medicare patient access to care by avoiding the nearly 10-percent Medicare payment cuts scheduled to go into effect in 2022. Reps. Ami Bera, MD (D-CA) and Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN) recently circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter highlighting the financial uncertainty within the Medicare payment system and the dangers these cuts could have on physicians’ ability to provide quality care for their patients

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) held a town hall with the AAN advocates to talk about her efforts in addressing GME and workforce issues, while stressing the importance of physician advocacy. The Legislative Summit resulted in 1.5 million impressions on Twitter using #AANadvocacy, over 250 action alert email participants, and additional legislative cosponsors and letter signatories. Listen to the recent Neurology Minute® podcast episode with Joohi Jimenez Shahed, MD, providing an overview of the event.

What We're Reading

Biden admin releases surprise billing rule detailing arbitration process (Fierce Healthcare)
Hospitals warned about violating CMS price transparency rule (Becker's Hospital Review)
Francis Collins, MD, PhD, to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)