September 30, 2011

September 30, 2011

Newsletter of the American Thoracic Society's Washington Office

1150 18th Street NW
Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20036
Telephone:(202) 296-9770
advocacy@thoracic.org

HEALTHCARE REFORM

Obama Seeks Supreme Court Decision on Affordable Care Act

This week, the Obama Administration officially asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by appealing the 11th Circuit Court Decision that ruled against parts of the ACA. The appeal makes it highly likely the Supreme Court will hear and decide the case before the 2012 Presidential elections.

While advocates on both sides of the debate are eager for a Supreme Court decision, court observers point out that the Supreme Court could take a number of intermediate steps that side step making a conclusive ruling on the law – including saying the plaintiffs have no standing because the individual mandate has not yet taken effect.

BUDGET

House and Senate Pass Short-Term Continuing Resolution

This week, the House and Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a short-term spending bill that keeps the federal government operating through Tuesday, October 4, 2011. The short-term measure avoids a government shut down and gives the House of Representatives time to return to session and consider the Senate bipartisan longer-term continuing resolution that keeps the government operational until November 18th.

While this drama-filled Congress makes any predictions risky, most observers believe the House will pass the Senate-passed continuing resolution with bipartisan support. It remains unclear how Congress will resolve the remainder of fiscal year 2012 appropriations and much of fiscal year 2012’s prospects may depend on the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – better known as the “Super” committee.

House Majority Releases Draft FY2012 Health Spending Bill

This week, the House Appropriations Labor Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Denny Rehberg (R-MT) released a draft FY2012 health research and services spending bill that proposes funding levels for health programs, including the NIH and CDC.

The proposed Rehberg bill provides $31.7 for the NIH, a 3.3 percent increase over the FY2011 funding level and $1.2 billion more than the Senate's FY2012 health spending bill, which proposes to cut NIH funding by 0.6 percent overall. In another NIH-related policy difference with the Senate bill, the House bill provides funding for the National Center for Research Resources, rather than the new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The House's draft health spending bill proposes a $52 million, or 1 percent cut to CDC's budget for a funding level of $5.6 billion. The bill does not provide funding levels for specific CDC programs, such as the tuberculosis and asthma programs.

The proposed budget also contain nearly 40 legislative riders that are likely to provoke significant opposition from Democrats in the House and the Senate, including a proposal to prohibit funding for healthcare reform implementation until 90 days after legal challenges against the new law are resolved.

In responding to the proposal, Democratic Ranking Member Nita Lowey, while appreciating the chairman’s support of the proposed NIH increase, strongly opposed Chairman Rehberg’s proposed cuts in education, labor and other health programs and stated her strong opposition to the many legislative riders.

TOBACCO CONTROL

CMS Expands Medicaid Coverage of Quitline Services

This week, the ATS join several other health organization in a letter to CMS Deputy Administrator Cindy Mann, thanking the agency for expanding access to quitline services for Medicaid beneficiaries by making tobacco cessation quitline services for Medicaid beneficiaries an allowable Medicaid administrative cost expenditure and eligible for federal matching funds. CMS also expanded smoking cessation services for all pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries.

CLEAN AIR

House Committee Passes Bill to Strike Cement Kiln Emissions Standards

Earlier this month, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed legislation – The Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 2681) that strikes down the recently finalized EPA rules to reduce hazardous emission from cement kilns. House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor targeted the EPA rule in a memo outlining House Republican efforts to strike down “job killing” regulations.

The EPA cement kiln rule is known as a maximum achievable technology rule (MACT) where EPA looks at the emissions of the top 12percent of cleanest cement kilns and requires the rest of the industry to adopt similar pollution control technology to achieve similar emissions reductions. Under the MACT rules, it is already established that the technology exists to meet the proposed emissions standard.

Cement kilns are a major point source of air pollution and are the third largest emitters of mercury in the United States. In addition to mercury, cement kilns also emit heavy metals, acid gases and particulate matter. The EPA estimates that adopting and enforcing the cement kiln emissions rule will prevent 2,500 deaths annually by 2013 and will prevent 1,500 heart attacks, 17,000 asthma attacks and over 1,700 emergency room visits and hospitalizations annually.

The ATS opposes this legislation and has reached out to members of the House of Representative, urging them to vote against this legislation when it comes to the full House for a vote.

 

 

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The Washington Letter is written by the American Thoracic Society government relations office and emailed to all ATS members living in the United States. The letter keeps clinicians, scientists, and patients abreast of legislative, judicial, and regulatory issues in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. Each week's edition is archived on the ATS Web site, www.thoracic.org. If you have any questions or one more information about becoming involved in advocacy, please contact the ATS Washington office at 202-296-9770.