Policy Corner: December 9, 2022
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
Senate Democrats Elect Leadership for 118th Congress
This week, Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock was re-elected to his seat in a runoff election held Tuesday, giving the Democrats a 51-seat majority. This means the Democrats will have a majority with regard to Senate Committees, which were equally divided between the two major parties during the last two years. However, today, Arizona Senator Kyrsten announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent. She said she expects to caucus with the democrats, which shouldn’t hurt the balance of the committees.
The Democratic caucus re-elected Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer of New York as the Senate Majority Leader this week for the 118th Congress. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was elected as the President Pro Tempore; Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) as Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chair; and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) as chair of Steering.
Senator Casey Introduces Bill to Create Augmentative Alternative Communications Centers
On November 17th, Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) introduced S. 2, the “Augmentative and Alternative Communications Centers to Establish National Training (AACENT) Act,” to award grants to three different resource centers around the country to promote the use and effectiveness of Augmentative and Alternative (AAC) devices. AAC devices are any tool or device used to supplement or replace speech. The national resource center would link current and future policy and activities undertaken through the federal government in relation to self-advocacy, supported decision making, person-centered planning, community living, and competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities, particularly those with the most significant expressive communication disabilities.
Senator Introduces Bill to Create Advocacy Council on Law Enforcement and People with Disabilities
Senator Robert Casey (D-Pa.) introduced S. 5107, the “Data on Interactions and Accountability for Law Enforcement with Individuals with Disabilities (DIALED) Act” on November 16th. The bill establishes an advisory council of law enforcement professionals, people with disabilities, researchers, and others that will collect and analyze data on interactions between police and people with disabilities. The bill also amends the Death in Custody Reporting Act to include disability status in reports on deaths that occur while in police custody.
Senators Encourage Colleagues to Support Conrad 30 Bill to Assist with Physician Recruitment
This week, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter among colleagues seeking support for inclusion of the “Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act” (S. 1810) in any end-of-the-year package to address physician shortage, particularly in rural areas. This is similar to the letter that Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) distributed last week to colleagues urging House Leadership to adopt H.R. 3541.
The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that in the next twelve years there will be a national shortage of as many as 124,000 physicians. Americans living in rural communities are seven times as likely as those in urban areas to report that they are unable to get the health care they need, and only 2% of students in their final year of medical school say they want to live in towns with populations under 25,000. For nearly 30 years, the Conrad 30 program has helped to address these shortages.
CMS Proposes Physician’s Rule Mirroring House Passed Bill on Medicare Advantage Plans
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule that closely aligns with H.R. 3172/S. 3018, “Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act,” which requires Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to address prior authorization requests more promptly by streamlining and simplifying the process to ensure the timely provision of patient care. This proposed rule would place new requirements on Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations, Medicaid managed care plans, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) managed care entities, state Medicaid and CHIP fee-for-service (FFS) programs, and Qualified Health Plan (QHP) issuers on the Federally-facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) to improve the electronic exchange of health care data and streamline processes related to prior authorization. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3172 in September.
The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has supported H.R. 3172/S. 3018, along with 500 organizations representing patients, health care providers, medical technology and biopharmaceutical industry, health plans, and others seeking to eliminate obstacles to patients receiving medically necessary care. Individuals with a brain injury often face long delays in receiving rehabilitative care due to prior authorization bureaucracy.