The ACR’s advocacy team has been busy lobbying for rheumatology with Congress, federal regulatory agencies, state legislatures and private payers on many fronts—from fighting for adequate reimbursement to building more transparency around prior authorization and pharmacy benefit managers. In these efforts, member involvement is “the key to move the initiatives across the finish line,” says ACR Health Policy and Practice Specialist Ashley Vassallo.
That call for more involvement was a shared sentiment during a virtual roundtable discussion among members of ACR’s professional advocacy team recently. They took time as the legislative season is winding down to discuss what’s next in lobbying efforts, especially as they look to elections that could reshape the legislative and regulatory landscape.
Here’s an inside look at what the ACR’s professional advocacy team members are working on and how they work together and with ACR/ARP volunteer leaders to continue making important strides for rheumatology. (This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)
The ACR’s professional advocacy team is:
- Adam Cooper, MS, vice president, practice, advocacy & quality, based outside Atlanta;
- Joseph Cantrell, JD, director, state affairs and community relations, based in Newnan, Ga.;
- Lennie Shewmaker McDaniel, JD, director, congressional affairs and head of the ACR’s Washington, D.C., office;
- Colby Tiner, manager, regulatory affairs, based in Washington, D.C.;
- Paige Colston, manager of grassroots engagement and RheumPAC, based in Washington, D.C.; and
- Ashley Vassallo, specialist, health policy and practice, based in Washington, D.C.
The Rheumatologist (TR): What goals do you hope to achieve as a member of ACR’s advocacy team this year?
Adam: One overall goal is increasing members’ awareness of the many issues impacting their professional lives, as well as patient access to care and treatment. In particular, we need their awareness of the robust advocacy work the ACR is doing on their behalf to address those issues at the state and federal levels.
Joseph: I echo what Adam said, raising awareness is key. We also need that awareness to be followed by more active engagement from a broader section of our membership by posting on social media, completing legislative action alerts or even joining us for a day on Capitol Hill. Members have a number of options to engage on the issues in ways that fit their life and schedule, but I can’t stress enough how important it is for members to be engaged in advocacy in some way.
Lennie: I want to make sure that issues impacting rheumatologists and their patients have the attention of federal legislators. One way I can do this is to capitalize on the momentum behind certain reforms going into the end of this Congress—especially Medicare reimbursement, which is the number one policy concern of our members. A number of physician leaders will retire from the Republican caucus at the end of the year and have asked their party to get on board with necessary reforms as their legacy legislation. So we hope to do everything we can to help these legislators get policy updates across the finish line and change the trajectory for physicians struggling to serve American seniors.
