July Legislative Update

OSR LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS UPDATE- JULY 2010
1. HHS launches website to help Americans understand healthcare reform
2. Dr. Donald Berwick chosen to head Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
3. ACGME lowers limits on resident work hours and increases on-site supervision
4. First lawsuits against healthcare reform are heard in federal court
5. Federal government increases funding and support for HIV/AIDS domestically


1. HHS launches website to help Americans understand healthcare reform
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new website, www.healthcare.gov, to help the everyday American navigate changes in insurance and other aspects related to healthcare reform. It provides links to determine what insurance providers are available locally, explains healthcare reform as it relates to various members of the population such as the disabled, students, and small businesses, news updates, and strategies for health prevention.

2. Dr. Donald Berwick chosen to head Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Dr. Berwick, a pediatrician and Harvard Medical School professor, has been chosen by President Obama to head the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs. He was chosen via a recess appointment, which requires only the consent of the President and not a vote of Congress, in an effort to bypass a potentially long and difficult Senate confirmation. The CMS has been without a permanent administrator since October 2006.

3. ACGME lowers limits on resident work hours and increases on-site supervision
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has put forth a new proposal to further reduce the maximum work hours for residents, especially among those with less experience. The cutoff for resident shifts has been decreased from 30 to 16 hours for first year residents and 24 hours for older residents, with exceptions for special circumstances related to continuity of care. In addition, residents are required to have at least 24 continuous hours off per week when averaged over a month, and first-year residents are required to have on-site access to supervision. These reforms, which are the first issued from the ACGME since 2003, have engendered concerns that residents will not receive enough clinical exposure before graduating or that shorter days will become more stressful as residents must fit the same amount of work into fewer hours. However, other groups are concerned that these restrictions are not sufficient to reduce resident sleep deprivation and medical errors. These new ACGME standards will go into effect this month, and comments to can be made via the ACGME website until August 9.

4. First lawsuits against healthcare reform are heard in federal court
Ever since healthcare reform became law, attorneys general of more than 20 states have filed suits against the federal government stating that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance is a violation of a person's constitutional rights. The first to be heard by a federal district court did so in Virginia on July 1, and hearings of similar suits in Michigan and California are scheduled for later this month. The argument made by Virginia is that the government is not able to require an individual to buy a commercial product, in this case health insurance. The Justice Department is defending the individual mandate and the associated income tax penalty for noncompliance as an extension of Congress' right to levy taxes, reasoning it as a way to ensure that everyone who consumes healthcare in the United States shares a responsibility for paying for it. The ruling will be decided by the end of the month.

5. Federal government increases funding and support for HIV/AIDS domestically
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has allocated $25 million in additional funds for states to provide antiretroviral drugs to patients unable to afford them. This funding does a little to offset the deficits faced by states from the economic downturn and a decrease in employee-based health insurance coverage as patients lose their jobs, but the measure falls short of the $126 million state officials and advocates were expecting to cover the remainder of the fiscal year. Furthermore, President Obama is expected to announce his national strategy for combatting the nation's HIV/AIDS problem later this week.


Your Legislative Affairs Team,

Nathan Copeland, Southern Region
Elizabeth Davlantes, Central Region
William Stevens, Western Region
Frank Bauer, Northeast Region
Thure Caire, National Delegate