Tense times in Washington

As some of you may know the country is in a crisis state trying to manage the budget. The Senate and House formed a committee to hack out (and I do mean HACK) the budgets of the National Government. This committee is suppose to help save our country in this economic crisis we are facing. So when your Government is facing an economic crisis... who you gonna call?... nope not the Ghost Busters with their super-sucking backpacks... you call the Super Committee.
But be warned when it comes to Clinical Laboratory funding they are more like the Joker or Riddler, with their proposed cuts and rumors.
Let's meet the members of this 'fearless' crew:
o The committee is made up of six Republicans and six Democrats and is co-chaired by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX). The remaining committee members include representatives: Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Jim Clyburn (D-SC); Xavier Becerra (D-CA); Energy and Commerce Chairman, Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ways and Means Chairman, David Camp (R-MI). The senate committee members are: Max Baucus (D-MT); John F. Kerry (D-MA); Jon Kyl (R-AZ); Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Rob Portman (R-OH).

And the rumors...

• 4-5% deduction in the next Fee Schedule which will last for 5-10 years


• Co-Pay for all laboratory testing


• One of these or both of these are included in 6 out of the 8 proposals

The biggest problem...

NO ONE is willing to fight for us on the Hill...

So where is our hero? Where is our Superman or Wonder Woman? M.I.A. (Missing In Action)

All we can do is wait for the Super Committee's report to be released in mid-November and hope and pray our HERO is somehow found.

ACTION ALERT!!!!

ACTION ALERT!

Members on Congress are back in their home states this week, so it is perfect time to go to your local offices and make your voice heard!

With the budget being debated and negotiated it is important to let our Representatives know how we feel about the potential cuts facing Clinical Laboratories. The latest news from Washington is not only is Congress considering having Clinical Laboratories implement a Co-pay, but they are also discussing cutting the Fee Schedule by as much as 10%. President Obama has vowed to leave Medicare/ Medicaid services out of the cuts, but Congress has other ideas.

What can you do?

• 
  
  Visit your local Representative and Senator's office and ask to speak to a Health care aid.


• 
  
  Call your local offices and voice your concern.


• 
  
  Contact your local office and see if there are going to be any rallies or public meetings which you could attend.


• 
  
  Get a group of people to go with you to your local office and have them share their support.


• 
  
  Go to the National ASCLS website and download talking points for revamping the Fee Schedule and other information about the Clinical Fee Schedule.

Make your voice heard and let Washington know the effects of their decisions here in their home states.

Washington, D.C.

Legislative days:
Today we, Judy, Lindsey and I, walked the hill and talked to the Legislative Healthcare Aides for our Senators and Representatives. The issues we discussed with them are: 1) Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs); 2) personnel shortage- reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act; and 3) Fee Scheduling.
1) Laboratory Developed Tests:

• FDA oversight should not be initiated without continued, interactive dialogue with the clinical laboratory community and industry stakeholders
• Any new guidance or regulation should:
• 1- Be based on a better stratification of risk than is currently used for waiver test categorization;
• 2- Accommodate innovation to meet the growing needs of the clinical practices;
• 3- Avoid redundancy with current regulatory agencies and avoid adding unnecessary costs to ensure laboratory testing is affordable to patients;
• 4- Utilize a process that can be handled with staffing levels and resources the agency can prove are available, to ensure the effective and efficient oversight of LDTs;
• 5- establish a fast track process for those tests that are developed to address emergency situations, including acute public health outbreaks related to communicable diseases such as H1N1 influenza detection; and
  
• 6- Allow for provisional use of esoteric tests, with appropriate disclaimers, where there is limited access to samples for clinical validation.
• Any legislation concerning genetic testing, personalized medicine and/or LDT should not be crafted without input from clinical laboratory professionals and other stakeholders in the clinical laboratory community.

These were some of the talking points we used when telling the aides about our concerns if the FDA decides to move forward with regulating all laboratory developed tests.
More to come later....
Personnel shortage
Fee Schedule

Thanks to Kim for the easy link from the awesome new website!! Be sure to check out the new National ASCLS website and the new ASCLS-IA website!
~ Theresa

IPHA Day

On February 2, 2010, Jan Frerichs and I journeyed to the "Hill". While not the "Hill" that we all think of in Washington, D.C. this was our own personal "hill" here in Iowa. We went to Des Moines for a chance to experience a "lobbying" day in Des Moines. It is far different form then what I was used to in Washington, D.C. Des Moines definitely has a more personal site to it as we met with one of my Representative, Nick Wagner, and a Senator, Shawn Hammerlinck (whom I went to school with). They took us around and talked to us about our issues. In D.C. we usually meet with aids and it feels like a very hurried environment, which don't get me wrong I love. In Des Moines they took time out of meetings to discuss things with us on a personal level.
We also were able to talk to Iowa Public Health Alliance and discuss issues that impacted us both. They understand the need for Licensure and have in the past worked towards it with us. I look forward to working with them in the future. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how things work at a state level and to open the lines of communication with IPHA. This experience helped us to understand what would possibility occur if we did a "Day on the Hill" as ASCLS-IA. I will be writing an article and including a picture of our day. Please look for it in the next newsletter.

Healthcare Reform

Healthcare Reform has passed! After a year long debate about reform a bill has passed. What these means is that all Americans now have access to healthcare, but the debate rages on as to how it will affect us all. We are looking at a definite influx of patients at our hospitals and clinics with hopefully more funding for laboratories. I have been hearing pros and cons from both sides and right now all that is clear is that we will need to wait and see what the next few months and years bring. As we all know healthcare is not an easy issue and continues to become more complex as testing evolves to more complex methods. The one thing that is for certain you can't turn on the T.V., look through a newspaper or surf the web with out encountering news on the Healthcare Reform.
I encourrage you to post thoughts about the current bill and where you see it possible heading and the impact it will have on us.

UPDATES:
20% co-pay overturned!!

Laboratory Fee (Baucus Bill)- switched to a 1.75% reduction in the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule for 2011-2015
Rational:
~ The lab tax was going to be in the range of 2.5%-- and could be higher in some cases-- on ALL lab revenue including Medicare (CLFS and Physician fee schedule) and non-Medicare revenue. EVERYTHING.
And no deduction for other taxes.
~ The lab tax would have started in 2010 and is PERMANENT and would be impossible to reduce or repeal.
~ the tax would have been assessed against virtually ALL independent and hospital laboratories, and any physician office labs that do more than $500,000 a year in revenue.
~All hospitals' outpatient and outreach revenue would have been taxed.

ASCLS-GAC now publishing a news letter to keep everyone up to date on current events.

Town Hall meetings- Grassley and Loebsack

Loebsack:
August 22nd- 10 am Iowa City Public Library
11:45 am Tipton County Extension Office

Grassley:

Senator Grassley’s Open Public Town Meetings August 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Humboldt County Town Meeting
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Rustix Restaurant
716 Sumner Avenue
Humboldt
Palo Alto County Town Meeting
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Ruthven Social Center
1503 Rolling Street
Ruthven
Pocahontas County Town Meeting
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Pocahontas Public Library
Community Room
14 2nd Avenue NW
Pocahontas
Calhoun County Town Meeting
4:15-5:15 p.m.
Rockwell City Community Center On the Square
424 Main Street
Rockwell City
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Plymouth County Town Meeting
10:15-11:15 a.m.
Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor
24 5th Avenue NW
Business 75 & Highway 3
Le Mars
Cherokee County Town Meeting
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Sanford Museum
117 East Willow Street
Cherokee
Ida County Town Meeting
2:30-3:30 p.m.
Ida County Community REC Center
Community Room
311 Barnes
Ida Grove
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Emmet County Town Meeting
8:00-9:00 a.m.
Emmet County Farm Bureau
421 1st Avenue North
Estherville
Dickinson County Town Meeting
10:00-11:00 a.m.
Sami Bedell Center for the Performing Arts
612 28th Street
Spirit Lake
Lyon County Town Meeting
1:45-2:45 p.m.
George North Community Room
115 South Main Street
George
Clay County Town Meeting
4:30-5:30 p.m.
Administration Building
Conference and Board Rooms
300 West 4th Street
Spencer
Friday, August 28, 2009
O’Brien County Town Meeting
8:00-9:00 a.m.
O’Brien County Courthouse
Assembly Room
155 South Hayes
Primghar
Greene County Town Meeting
3:00-4:00 p.m.
Greene County Community Center
Meeting Room
204 West Harrison
Jefferson