January 27, 2012
| January 27, 2012 |
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Congress Returns, SGR Fix First Item of Business
With both chambers back in Washington, Congress will start work on “must pass” provisions to resolve the SGR fix, tax extenders and unemployment insurance payments. After much brinksmanship, Congress was able to reach a temporary deal that addressed SGR payments and other tax/entitlement provisions until March.
Unless Congress acts, Medicare payments to physicians and other part B providers will be cut by 27.4 percent starting March 1, 2012. While there is broad bipartisan agreement that Congress should avert these cuts, there is not yet agreement on how to pay for the estimated $20 billion needed to forestall the cuts for one year.
With each short-term patch, the scheduled cuts get steeper and the cost of payment reform grows. In 2005, the formula could have been repealed for less than $50 billion. Today, the cost is nearly $300 billion. In five years, the combined cost of short‐term patches and accumulated SGR debt will reach $600 billion.
Further temporary patches will continue to make the long-term solution harder. Should Congress again pass only a two-year patch, it will cost $39 billion, will increase the cost of future efforts to repeal the SGR by an additional $56 billion and will increase the projected cut in 2014 to 36 percent.
While Congress will spend the next couple weeks searching for a short-term fix to the SGR problem, the ATS calls upon Congress to enact a permanent fix to the SGR crisis.
RESEARCH
NIEHS Releases Draft Strategic Plan Mission and Vision Statements
This week, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) released draft mission and vision statements to form the basis for the institute’s new strategic plan. The institute began a process last year for development of a strategic plan to set the institute’s scientific and governance direction for the next five years (2012-2017). The ATS, which chairs the Friends of NIEHS coalition, participated in a July 2011 workshop for community stakeholders to identify the initial set of strategic themes. The draft mission and vision are as follows:
- The mission of the NIEHS is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives.
- The vision of the NIEHS is to provide global leadership for innovative research that improves public health by preventing disability and disease from our environment.
The new draft mission proposed to shift the focus from the institute’s current mission statement on “reducing the burden of human illness and disability” to”“promoting healthier lives.” In addition to the draft mission and vision, the NIEHS also released six strategic planning pillars and cross-cutting themes to focus the institute’s work. These are:
- Fundamental research
- Exposure research
- Prevention and translational science
- Health disparities and global environmental health
- Training and education
- Communications and engagement
The institute is seeking public comments on the draft vision, mission and pillars. The ATS will be providing comments on this important stage of the institute’s strategic plan development. NIEHS plans to unveil the full draft of the strategic plan in April 2012. To view and comment on the mission, vision and pillars and learn more about the institute’s strategic planning process, go to: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/strategicplan/index.cfm
PCORI Releases Draft Research Agenda
This week, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) released its draft National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda, which will be used to guide funding announcements for the institute’s comparative clinical effectiveness research. The report emphasizes how PCORI will be working to fill significant evidence gaps in the U.S. healthcare system such as the lack of evaluations between new treatments and technologies and older therapies and comparative studies of system wide interventions including disease management, telemedicine and quality improvement. The agenda’s five general priorities are:
- Assessment of options for prevention, diagnosis and treatment (40% of PCORI budget will be allocated to this area)
- Improving healthcare systems. Research in this area will include comparing approaches to improving access and coordination of care such as electronic health records and the use of physician extenders. (20% of PCORI budget)
- Communication and dissemination of research, including strategies for educating clinicians and patients about prevention, diagnosis and treatment options, and increased patient involvement in decisions. (10% of PCORI budget)
- Addressing healthcare disparities (10% of PCORI budget)
- Accelerating patient-centered outcomes research and methodologic research. Studies in this area will include the use of registries and clinical data networks and. (20% of PCORI budget)
PCORI Board Chairman Eugene Washington said, “"We want to hear from patients, caregivers, providers and the wider healthcare community on whether our draft priorities and initial research agenda capture the broad areas where more evidence-based information is needed to make better decisions.”
PCORI is inviting public comment on the research agenda and the deadline is March 15. The ATS will be reviewing the agenda and submitting comments. To read the agenda, go to http://www.pcori.org/provide-input/.
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.
