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.