Washington
Round-Up
September, 1998
Senate Approves Labor, HHS Appropriations Bill
On Tuesday, September 1, 1998, the
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education marked up its FY99 funding bill. The allocations
given to health related programs in this bill are due in no
small part to the grassroots advocacy efforts of the American
Society of Transplant Physicians.
The Chairman's mark provides a total
of $15,622,386 for the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
which is $2 billion more than the FY 1998 allocation, or a
14.7% increase. The Senate Subcommittee also approved increases
of 14.0% for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), 14.2% for the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and 13.3% for the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The full Senate Appropriations Committee
approved the Subcommittee's mark with only a few minor health-related
changes on Thursday, September 3, 1998.
Congress Passes Continuing Resolution
On Thursday, September
17, 1998, both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate
passed
a "continuing resolution" (CR) measure to keep the
federal government operating until October 9th. The Congress
needs to pass a CR, as the appropriations bills for many agencies
will not be completed by October 1, 1998. There are several
appropriations measures that Congress has not acted upon, including
the Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education appropriations
bill. All indications lead to the Labor, HHS, and Education
bill being combined into one large funding bill and/or CR for
FY 1999. The fate of legislative riders to this bill seeking
a delay in implementation of the OPTN regulations or the Medicare
Conditions of Participation regulation (hospital reporting
of deaths to the OPOs) is still unclear. The ASTP Public Policy
Staff is actively monitoring this situation and will keep ASTP
members apprised of any new developments.
The ASTP Public Policy Staff has
also sent out several action alerts asking ASTP members to
contact their Members of Congress in support of increased NIH
funding.
Managed Care Being Stalled in Senate
The Senate Republican Leadership
is holding off bringing managed care legislation to the Senate
Floor for consideration. Republican leaders in the Senate have
indicated that time is running out, and the pressure is mounting
to pass all 13 appropriations bills. Therefore, it is very
likely that managed care legislation will not be considered
until the 1st session of the 106th Congress.
Medicare Commission Reviews Graduate
Medical Education
On August 10, 1998, the National
Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare met to discuss
graduate medical education (GME) and its relationship with
Medicare. Acknowledging that Medicare pays a disproportionate
share of total GME funding, the majority of the commission
and the panelists appearing before the group agreed that continued
public funding of GME is important to ensuring quality, innovation
and access to health care. However, the commission and the
panelists disagreed significantly as to how GME should be financed,
what Medicare's role should be, and how medical schools and
teaching hospitals should be more accountable for the monies
they receive.
Nation's Governors Urge Federal
Support for University-Based Scientific Research
In an effort to
support federal investments in scientific research, 51 governors
(representing
46 U.S. states and five territories) sent a letter to Members
of Congress encouraging them to ensure that "funding for
university-based research remains a top national priority."
Governors of Kansas, Montana, South
Dakota, and Wyoming were the only state leaders not to sign
the letter, which points out the numerous benefits of university-based
scientific research and stresses that federal support for science
contributes to the strength of the American economy.
Varmus Announces Meeting for Public
Participation on NIH Activities
Responding quickly
to recommendations by the recent Institute of Medicine report, "Scientific
Opportunities and Public Needs: Improving Priority Setting
and Public Input at the National Institutes of Health," Dr.
Harold Varmus, Director of the NIH, has announced that he will
hold a meeting on September 23, 1998, that will focus on enhancing
public participation in NIH activities.
According to NIH, "The NIH
Director's Council of Public Representatives will serve as
a forum for discussing issues and concerns and for exchanging
viewpoints that are important to NIH policies, programs, and
research priorities." The NIH Offices of Public Liaison
are an effort "to help strengthen collaborative relationships
between the NIH and the many publics it serves."
The September 23rd meeting will
run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on the NIH campus in Bethesda,
MD. The NIH meeting announcement is available at http://www.nih.gov:/news/pr/aug98/od-22.htm.
