Public Policy Report For those of us engaged in child and adolescent health care legislative issues, this continues to be an interesting year in the nation’s Capitol. Before the conclusion of the current session of Congress, tentatively scheduled for October 29, there will be many opportunities for you to contact your federal legislators and make a difference! The Public Policy Council will spend this fall focused on several fronts, including graduate medical education and federal funding to children’s teaching hospitals, pediatric research, adequate funding for child and adolescent health programs, stem cell research to name just a few issues. Graduate Medical Education for Children’s Hospitals The Public Policy Council continues to work with the National Association of Children’s Hospitals (NACH) and the American Academy of Pediatrics to advocate for equitable graduate medical education funding (GME) support for independent children’s hospitals. The Children’s Hospitals Education and Research Act of 1999, S.391/H.R. 1579, would establish a capped, time limited fund to make direct medical education (DME) and indirect medical education (IME) payments to eligible children’s hospitals – the fewer than 60 children’s teaching hospitals with their own Medicare provider numbers. They would receive amounts comparable to Medicare DME and IME payments to all teaching hospitals. The senate bill, introduced by Senators Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Kit Bond (R-MO) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has 39 cosponsors and the House bill introduced by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bill Thomas (R-CA), and Jim Greenwood (R-PA) has over 190 cosponsors. NACH has developed a toll-free call-in number to facilitate advocacy calls to Congress on this issue. Call your Senators and Representative toll-free at 1-800-353-7827 and ask them to cosponsor and support S. 391 and H.R. 1579. Pediatric Research Another issue on the Public Policy Council’s agenda for this first session of the 106th Congress is the availability of federal funds for pediatric research – again, the final legislative outcome remains uncertain at this time. Federal research funding, including the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and research dollars provided by the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, is included in one spending bill annually: the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Congress is facing severe budgetary spending limits (caps) for domestic discretionary programs, as required by the Balanced Budget Act 1997. These "caps" could translate to as much as $16.2 billion fewer dollars in FY 2000 than the current FY 1999 funding for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. The FY 2000 fiscal year begins on October 1, 1999. Despite these challenges, the Public Policy Council continues to advocate for a $2 billion increase over last year’s funding level for the NIH, at least $225 million for AHCPR and $800 million for the MCH Block Grant. In addition, working with the March of Dimes, NACH and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the PPC continues to strongly support the Pediatric Research Initiative (PRI). This small but growing investment, now in its fourth year, funds new NIH extramural pediatric research. Currently, the money is located in the Office of the NIH Director. Last year, Congress instructed NIH to fund the PRI at a level greater than $38.5 million. In the coming fiscal year – FY 2000 — the PPC is recommending $50 million. In addition, the PPC hopes to add $20 million for pediatric research loan repayments and $10 million for pediatric research training grants. The PPC continues to work on a federal level to provide more opportunities to train future pediatric physician-scientists. Get Involved! The PPC continues to advocate on behalf of pediatric researchers, academic and clinical faculty responsible for the training of pediatricians, and the leadership of medical school pediatric departments. As members of the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research and the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, we encourage you to take part in the federal legislative process and make your voices heard. More information on the above issues and others are available in the 1999 PPC Legislative Report at www.aps-spr.org. Contact your member of congress today! As always, please contact the Washington Office representative Karen Hendricks (khendricks@aap.org, 800-336-5475) or her legislative assistant Jennifer Stevens (jstevens@aap.org) with any questions.
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