Ductal Lavage Workshop
Presidential Address
 

Washington Visitation
 Report by Robert P. Inlow, MD FACS

On April 30, 2001, A. Michael Sadove and I traveled to Washington D. C. as part of the A.C.S. Washington Chapter Visitation.  After an uneventful flight, we met with the Washington  staff of the College  at 4:00 P.M.  at the College’s Washington office.  Two members of the Massachusetts Chapter were at the same briefing. We had received briefing books two weeks before and these gave us a general idea of our subject matter. We were brought up to date by Chris Gallagher and Christian Shalgian about current legislation.

The next morning we had a breakfast session with our guide and leader, Adrienne Roberts.  We practiced presenting  the issues orally.   Our visits were with health legislative aides entirely.  We did meet briefly with Representative Mike Pence of the second district. and made use of a picture opportunity.  We met the legislative aides for Dan Burton, Steve Buyer, Peter Visclosky, Richard Lugar, Mike Pence and Julia Carson.  A late afternoon session was held with Evan Bayh’s legislative assistant who was known personally by Dr. Sadove.

All of these sessions were interesting.  The knowledge level of the assistants varied a great deal, but all were personable, interested and accommodating.  Myrna Dugan with Steve Buyer was particularly impressive in her command of the issues.

The final session with Tom Sugar (legislative assistant to Senator Evan Bayh) was informative.  Ms. Roberts had tried to contact Sen. Bayh’s health aide without success, but  Dr. Sadove’s personal contact got us in.  We provided an entrance to our legislators for the A.C.S. lobbyist.

 We approached several issues:
• “Patients Rights Legislation” - this is the managed care reform measure.  The Norwood - Dingle Bill passed the House last year and a different measure passed the Senate.  They both died in Conference Committee.  The Republicans seem to be optimistic about passage of something this year, but the Democrats have put any efforts on a back burner.  There is little disagreement on most aspects of the legislation.  The issue of carrier liability seems to be accepted, but the Republicans want caps on liability, whereas the Democrats do not.  This one issue is holding up the entire thing.
• Legislation exists to give grants to the states for trauma systems.  It was not funded until this year - this as a result of College efforts and lobbying.  We talked to our representatives to work on funding for next year.  Indiana is a state without a trauma
 system and needs to apply for one of these grants.
• A proposal called MERFA (Medicare Education and Regulatory Fairness Act) appears to be receiving support and we urged our representatives to support it.  It is designed to
 eliminate some of the government abuses in the claims auditing and overpayment recovery processes.  It appears to be a “no-brainer” and hopefully will pass.
• Much attention has been paid to the Institute of Medicine report in late 1999 on patient safety.  A group of ninety medical organizations, including the College, have endorsed five principles that any legislation concerning patient safety should contain.  These mainly revolve around the  confidentiality and non-discoverability of information.
• Dr. Sadove lobbied for legislation (which we have in Indiana) for coverage of craniofacial deformities , and I lobbied for a moratorium of the “Limited English Proficiency” regulations of the Office of Civil Rights.

We feel that it is advisable to continue the “Washington Visitation Program”.  When a legislator has a constituent show up in Washington, they (or their staff) make time to see you and do listen.  The College’s staff then has easier access.