The ACR will Increase its Influence with the Federal Government to Improve Policy Outcomes.
Advancing Public Policy to Advance Rheumatology
A highly-anticipated decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, allowing major reforms to continue moving forward. A sharply divided Congress was less productive than any other Congress in the modern era, with lawmakers focusing nearly all attention on setting the stage for the election in November. The final two months of the year were consumed by worries about the “fiscal cliff.” Despite systemic challenges, the ACR continued to make progress on behalf of the rheumatology community.
Sustainable Growth Rate Cuts Averted Again – Will 2013 Be the Year for Repeal?
Thanks to sustained outreach from ACR members, and the broader physician community, Congress acted during the lame-duck session at the end of 2012 to again postpone the Sustainable Growth Rate-mandated payment cut to physicians. Members of Congress now nearly universally support repeal of the SGR. The ACR has been working with Congressional leaders and key committees to develop the permanent fix to the SGR that will be necessary to stabilize Medicare and ensure fair physician reimbursement and patient access to quality care. The ACR will continue to advocate for repealing the flawed SGR formula and replacing it with a payment system that recognizes the specialized care rheumatologists provide.
ACR Leads Efforts to Remove Barriers to Treatment, Advances Legislation
The ACR played a leading national role in efforts to ensure patients can access the treatments they need to combat rheumatic diseases. Excessive patient cost sharing is increasingly a problem for rheumatology patients, as more insurance policies place critical medications, mostly biologics, into specialty tiers, often “Tier IV,” that require substantial coinsurance payments from patients. Working with the Arthritis Foundation, the ACR took the lead to promote a federal solution to this problem, and identified champions in Congress who would fight for patients’ ability to adhere to treatment regimens. The result was the introduction of H.R. 4209, the Patients’ Access to Treatments Act of 2012. To advance this groundbreaking legislation, the ACR and Arthritis Foundation also established and developed the Coalition for Accessible Treatments – a broad coalition, which now consists of 16 national physician and patient groups working together on this issue. The result of the collective efforts was that this bipartisan legislation garnered 43 cosponsors and will be reintroduced by its sponsors with expectations of moving further in 2013.
An Involved Membership Engages Lawmakers
The ACR coordinated hundreds of meetings with members of Congress and key staff in 2012, and ACR/ARHP members from 43 states joined their rheumatology colleagues during ACR fly-in conferences in Washington, D.C. The 2012 Advocates for Arthritis conference, held in September, was the ACR’s largest and most successful advocacy conference to-date. Over 140 rheumatologists, health professionals and patient advocates convened in our nation’s capital. Attendees met with more than 200 congressional offices to urge support for patient access to rheumatology, patient access to treatment and increased funding for medical research. The ACR board of directors also convened in Washington, D.C. in May to meet with members of Congress and promote the College’s legislative priorities. In addition to in-person meetings, ACR members made countless contacts with Congressional offices through phone calls and e-mails.
Record Support for RheumPAC Broadens Rheumatology’s Reach
Because of the growing support and commitment of ACR and ARHP members, RheumPAC exceeded its 2012 fundraising goal of $125,000 with a record $128,314 in contributions. These donations allowed RheumPAC to contribute $108,500 to pro-rheumatology candidates and key decision makers. RheumPAC provides opportunities to engage influential policymakers, enhance the ACR’s presence on Capitol Hill and helps ensure that champions for rheumatology can continue to serve. More than 93 percent of the candidates supported by RheumPAC in 2012 were re-elected and will return to fight for rheumatology issues in the 113th Congress.