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NATCO's
Washington Representative keeps NATCO members informed of legislative
bills and policies that affect their practice through articles,
presentations and the resources below:
- On
Friday, June 18th the NATCO President-Elect, Bill Hasskamp; Member,
Linda Ohler; NATCO Executive Director, Janene Dawson; and NATCO
Governmental Affairs Director, Wade Delk attended three meetings
with Congressional offices on Capitol Hill to discuss our legislative
issues. The three offices we met with were:
Senator
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Congressman
Joe Courtney (D-CT) View Video Presentation
Congresswoman
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) - She is the Congresswoman who represents
the district where our Annual Meeting will be held in August in
Hollywood, FL.
The
issues we discussed were:
Comprehensive
Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act
H.R.
1458, S.565 - To amend title XVIII of the Social Security
Act to provide continued entitlement to coverage for immunosuppressive
drugs furnished to beneficiaries under the Medicare Program that
have received a kidney transplant and whose entitlement to coverage
would otherwise expire. This would extend the immunosuppressive
drug coverage from 3 years to forever. It is assumed that
much of this will be covered in the passed Healthcare Reform Bill
by 2014 but we continue to work to make sure that it is clear that
it will be covered.
H.R.
2776 Living Organ Donor Job Security Act -This would amend
the Family Medical Leave Act to allow leave for individuals who
provide living organ donations. We continue to seek support
for it.
H.R.
218 Living Organ Donor Tax Credit -This would amend the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a non-refundable personal
credit to individuals who donate certain life-saving organs.
Pre-Existing
Condition Patient Protection Act - Secure Appropriations and Confirm
Intent to Cover Organ Donation - This
was included in the passed Healthcare Reform Bill and we are working
to make sure that the interpretation continues to correspond with
the original intent. Congressman Joe Courtney was the original
sponsor of this Bill, and we are maintaining our relationship with
his office to help in any way we can to make sure that it comes
out the right way.
We
found the Congressional staff to be very aware of the importance
of organ donation and transplantation, and our issues. They
will prove to be good allies to help us advance those issues now,
and new issues in the future.
Wade Delk, with Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc. currently
serves as NATCO's Washington Representative.
He participates in the Transplant Roundtable with
Washington Representatives from other key transplant related organizations.
They discuss legislation and regulatory information that effects
transplantation and donation.
Wade played a key role in submitting NATCO's comments regarding
the proposed CMS regulations. He works directly with NATCO's Immediate
Past President and Public Policy
Committee to create NATCO's legislative initiatives.
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