2013-01-01

Help ASH Fight for Hematology and Teach Your Elected Officials About NIH 

In 2012, ASH launched the aggressive “Fight Now” campaign, which was aimed to protect research funding. The campaign culminated in a call for all attendees of the annual meeting in Atlanta to take action and contact their elected officials in support of biomedical research funding. Several hundred ASH members answered that call and took action to urge Congress to avert the “fiscal cliff” and take a balanced approach to reducing the deficit without further cuts to NIH and other core federal programs.

As this issue of The Hematologist went to press, negotiators had just approved legislation to delay, until March 1, the catastrophic across-the-board cuts to NIH and other federal programs that were scheduled to take effect at the beginning of January as part of the so-called “fiscal cliff.” Unfortunately, NIH and other non-defense discretionary programs are not safeguarded either from future cuts or the new cliff deadline of March 1. To complicate matters further, fiscal year (FY) 2013 funding for NIH has only been provided through March 27, and it will be up to the new Congress to finalize FY 2013 funding after the temporary continuing resolution expires.

The nation’s current economic challenges, combined with a large number of new members of Congress who know little about NIH, means that NIH will continue to face potentially devastating budget cuts.

ASH will continue its efforts throughout 2013, but the Society needs your help to protect NIH from further cuts. Visit www.hematology.org/fightnow for a complete list of easy and meaningful actions you can take to educate Congress about the impact that inadequate funding has on medical research. Make your voice heard.

Snapshot of the 113th Congress 

As a result of the November elections, there will be few changes to the new Congress. In the House of Representatives, the Republicans have retained the majority and John Boehner (R-OH) will remain as Speaker of the House. The Republican leadership has stated it will continue to focus on cutting discretionary funding and advancing a conservative agenda, including continuing to attempt to repeal the health reform law. In the Senate, the Democrats’ majority was strengthened. The split Congress (Republican majority in the House of Representatives and Democrat majority in the Senate) means partisan fighting will continue. Included in the new Congress are 20 physicians (17 members of the House and 3 Senators).

New Medicare and Medicaid Regulations Benefit Hematologists; ASH Advocacy Improved Physician Payment 

ASH’s advocacy efforts were instrumental in making hematologists eligible for enhanced payments within the 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule. Payment rates for hematology/oncology services will increase by 2 percent based on the changes made in this rule. In addition, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed payment for two new codes for transitional care management services provided to patients being discharged from acute, rehabilitation, or long-term acute hospital stays into the community. Primary care providers and specialists can bill these codes for new services within 30 days following discharge. ASH advocacy also influenced the Medicaid rule implementing a provision of the Affordable Care Act stipulating that Medicaid reimbursement for certain primary care services equal Medicare rates in 2013 and 2014. While originally thought to only apply to physicians who are board-certified in family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics, the final Medicaid rule included subspecialists in these fields and will result in increased payments for adult and pediatric hematologists.

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