February 25, 2010
Act Now - 21.2 % Cut in Physician Reimbursement to Begin March 1
Unless Congress acts before March 1, Medicare reimbursements to all physicians will be cut by 21.2%. ASCO is asking its members to PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW by calling your Representative and Senators to tell them these cuts are unsustainable and have a negative impact on your ability to care for cancer patients. Urge your Representative and Senators to take immediate action by enacting a long-term fix.
February 22, 2010
President Obama Unveils Plan for Health Care Overhaul
In preparation for Thursday's health care summit, President Obama released a proposal for health care reform. The Washington Post is reporting that the President's proposal reflects the already-passed Senate plan. More
The New York Times reports the proposal boosts subsidies to help low- and moderate income people buy insurance on the new state exchanges and scales back the proposed "Cadillac tax" on high-cost plans. The White House proposal would cost $950 billion over 10 years. Visit the White House web site for the complete proposal.
February 16, 2010
Medicare Payment Cuts Scheduled to Begin March 1; ASCO Continues to Urge Congress to Delay Cuts
As the impending 21.2% cut in Medicare pay to physicians approaches on March 1, Congress is exploring other options to delay or fix the cut provided by the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. More
Last week, Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA.), unveiled a draft jobs bill that included a provision to block the Medicare physician payment cut for seven months. However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) stripped the bill of that provision. Congressional leaders will explore other measures of averting the impending cuts.
ASCO, along with the American Medical Association and other specialty societies is urging Congress to pass a permanent solution to the annual SGR reductions. In the absence of a permanent fix, ASCO supports another temporary measure to avert the 21.2% cut. ASCO will continue to provide you information on the impending cutsand ASCO’s efforts.
February 2, 2010
Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget
ASCO is currently reviewing the President's $3.8 trillion FY 2011 budget for provisions that will affect oncology. Based on initial review, the budget includes $32.1 billion (3.2% increase over FY 2010) for the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and $5.264 billion (3.16% increase over FY 2010) for the National Cancer Institute. More
The President highlighted the following initiatives for cancer research:
- Initiate 30 new drug trials in 2011, and double the number of novel compounds in Phase 1-3 of clinical trials by 2016; and
- Support the completion of a comprehensive catalog of cancer mutations for the 20 most common malignancies, setting the stage for complete genomic characterization for ever cancer as part of medical care within 10 years.
View the Department of Health and Human Service's budget.
January 25, 2010
Democrats Consider Next Steps in Health Care Reform
Just a day before the President's State of the Union Address, the President and White House, along with House and Senate Democratic leaders, reaffirm their commitment to health care reform. More
New York Times reports that White House and Congressional leaders are mulling over a crucial decision about whether to use a procedural tactic that would allow them to advance the bill despite the loss of the 60-vote majority in the Senate due to last week's Massachusetts election. BusinessWeek reports that the option to take the bill up using budget reconciliation would require only 51 Senate votes.
January 14, 2009
ASCO Urges Congress to Include Clinical Trials Amendment in
Final Bill
Today, ASCO sent letters to both House and Senate leadership, urging them to include the Brown-Hutchison Clinical Trials amendment in the final health care reform bill. More
Last month, ASCO led the charge to ensure that the amendment would be included in the Senate's version of the bill (H.R. 3590). ASCO will continue to advocate greater access to clinical trials.
January 2, 2010
House, Senate Leaders Agree to Bypass Conference
House and Senate leaders met yesterday and have formally agreed to bypass a conference committee to merge the two health care bills. Instead, the House will take up the bill, amend it, and then send it back to the Senate.
December 24, 2009
Senate Passes Health Care Bill
This morning, in a vote 60-39, the Senate passed its version of the health care reform bill. The vote comes after 25 straight days of debate. More
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would provide coverage to 31 million uninsured people, but still leave 23 million uninsured in 2019. The Senate bill must now be merged with the House version before President Obama could sign a bill in the new year. The Senate bill includes the Brown-Hutchison amendment. ASCO would like to thank our members who called, e-mailed and wrote their Senators in support of this amendment.
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