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AAMC STAT

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June 29, 2009

Congress deliberates on reform proposals

On June 19 the House issued an initial "discussion draft" of its health care reform legislation. The document is a joint product of three House committees: Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor. The committees tentatively plan to mark up the bill shortly after the July 4 recess. The health reform package includes various proposals on graduate medical education, Medicare physician payment reform, and an initiative to reduce "potentially preventable" hospital readmissions, among other measures. In the Senate, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee continued marking up its draft health care reform legislation before adjourning June 25 for the week-long Independence Day recess. In its daily meetings since June 17, the committee has adopted more than 250 amendments to the bill, including reinstating the "20/220 pathway" of the Economic Hardship Deferment, requesting that the Institute of Medicine make recommendations on reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions; and addressing legal and regulatory barriers that prevent hospitals and other entities from providing technology support to other providers in the community.

AAMC comments on proposed definition of "meaningful use" of health IT

On June 25 the AAMC submitted a comment letter to the federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Health Information Technology Policy Committee urging the committee to refine its proposed definition of "meaningful use" of health IT. The AAMC expressed concern about many ambiguities in the proposed definition, including questions over applicability and the ability of hospitals and eligible professionals to collect and report required data. The AAMC also emphasized that the requirements for being a "meaningful user" of electronic health records must not create impediments to comparative effectiveness and other research.

AAMC joins other groups objecting to proposed increase of SBIR set-aside

On June 23 the AAMC joined nearly 100 organizations in sending a letter to Congress opposing a provision to increase the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) set-aside for federal research agencies. The letter, coordinated by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), objects to a provision in the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2009 that would increase the allocation for the SBIR program from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent of any federal agency budget that provides more than $100 million for research. The letter states that the "mandatory increase in the SBIR allocation across agencies will necessarily result in funding cuts for the peer-reviewed research conducted by other organizations."

OMB issues Recovery Act implementation guide

The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a memorandum outlining the reporting requirements for those receiving grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Designed to increase transparency and accountability over where and how the ARRA funds are used, the guidelines require grantees to report the amount of funds received, , the completion status of funded projects, estimates on the number of jobs created by the projects, among other factors. OMB also clarified that the first reports are due Oct. 10, not in July as previous announced. In addition to the main guidance document, OMB has also issued two supplementary documents and a program which includes a reporting template.

Senate leader asks medical schools for COI policies

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) recently sent a letter to 23 medical schools requesting information about their conflict-of-interest policies. Grassley, who is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent the letter to the medical schools that did not participate in a recent American Medical Student Association survey on such policies. The AAMC has encouraged all of its members to develop and implement strong and effective COI policies that address relationships with industry. Shortly, the AAMC intends to assess the progress its member institutions have recently made in achieving this goal.

HHS secretary's report examines system's "hidden costs"

A new report from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius points to rising insurance deductibles, higher copayments, and rising out-of-pocket costs as key causes behind rising health care costs. The report, titled "Hidden Costs of Health Care: Why Americans Are Paying More But Getting Less," comes amid continued debate in Washington over health coverage.

On the move

The National Quality Forum has named Laura Miller as senior vice president and chief operating officer. Miller was previously deputy undersecretary for health operations and management at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Previous Editions of AAMC STAT

June 22, 2009 | June 15, 2009 | June 8, 2009 | May 25, 2009

 

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