Washington
Round-Up
***Special Annual
Meeting Edition***
Mack Addresses
NHC on Medical Research Funding
On Thursday, April
23, 1998, Senator Connie Mack (R-FL) addressed members of the
National Health
Council (NHC) on medical research funding and the doubling
of the NIH's budget. Mack, who described his family's battle
with cancer, including his mother dying of kidney cancer, explained
that he believes that the NIH can receive a substantial increase
in funding over the next several years, even though it may
not double. The Senator explained that there are two legitimate
ways to increase the NIH's budget.
The first way is
through the budget and appropriations cycle in Congress. Even
though Congress
has shown support for research funding, the Senator explained
that in order to increase NIH's budget other programs will
have to be cut. This is something that is difficult for Members
of Congress to do, especially those on the appropriations committees.
The second way is the tobacco legislation.
Senator Mack explained that tobacco legislation is still being
negotiated. The details including the size of the settlement
and how this money will be allocated are still unclear.
NIH Seeks Applications for Three
New Award Programs
The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) is now accepting applications for three new career development
awards. The Clinical Research Curriculum Award, the Mid-Career
Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research, and the Mentored
Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award are aimed
at increasing the participation of clinical researchers in
medical research and training people properly to conduct clinical
research.
More information on these awards
can be found on-line at www.nih.gov/grants/guide/1998/98.04.10/index.
AAMC Publication Provides Strategy
for Expansion of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research
The American Association
of Medical Colleges (AAMC), recently released a blueprint to
guide the
NIH and Congress through the current expansion of health and
medical research sciences in a new "White Paper" entitled, "Maximizing
the Investment: Principles to Guide the Federal-Academic Partnership
in Biomedical and Health Sciences Research." The paper offers
principles and recommendations to strengthen the federal-academic
partnership, to enhance training of scientists, to encourage
support for infrastructure costs, and to realign the clinical
research effort in the U.S.
Medicare Commission
Continues Hearings.
On Monday, April 20, 1998, Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan appeared before the National
Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare to relay his
thoughts on the ailing Medicare system. Greenspan suggested
that the ailing Medicare system might benefit from some of
the cost-cutting measures that have transformed private health-insurance
markets and that one of the most powerful tools for overhaul
would be requiring recipients to pay part of their health care
expenses.
Study Says PARCA Bill Would Increase
Health Care Costs
On Wednesday, April
22, 1998, a study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation
concluded that
under legislation sponsored by Congressman Charlie Norwood
(R-GA), H.R. 1415, and Senator Alphonse D'Amato (R-NY), S.
644, families would pay an extra $40 per year for health insurance
coverage. The study evaluated the costs associated with provisions
that would expand patients' access to specialists, emergency
medical care, and the point-of-service-option in health plans
that would allow patients to see doctors outside of a plan's
list.
The American Association
of Health Plans (AAHP) claim that the study does not represent
a complete
picture of the costs created by the Norwood-D'Amato bills,
more commonly know as the Patient Access to Responsible Care
Act (PARCA), if the bills become law.
FOVA Continues Action to Get
Increase for FY 1999
The Friends of the
VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) have been working
to increase the
FY 1999 VA research program appropriation. In the President's
FY 1999 budget request of $300 million for VA medical care
and health research, some of the proposed increase over the
FY 1998 level of $272 million is dependent on revenue generating
by a tobacco settlement. Thus, the FOVA has asked their member
organizations to organize grassroots campaigns showing Members
of Congress that VA research merits a substantial increase
even without revenues from a tobacco settlement.
