On another front to try to increase patients’ access to necessary therapies, ACR will also continue its push to stop specialty tiering and excessive cost sharing through the Patients’ Access to Treatments Act. (Read “What the Election Meant for Rheumatology.”)
Arthritis research at the Pentagon
You may know the ACR has been pushing for a new funding stream at the Department of the Defense (DoD) dedicated to rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease research. This could be our year to make it happen. The Pentagon recently told us that it strongly supports this research as a way to promote health readiness for our troops and also prevent and treat arthritis in all Americans. Congress works on this budgeting in early spring, so it’s a hot topic right now. Ask Congress to support DoD arthritis research.
State & local advocacy
Chris Adams, MD, FACP, FACR, and ACR staff Joseph Cantrell continue working on several local fronts through the ACR’s Affiliate Society Council. Check out their plans for 2019 to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, reform step therapy, help solve our workforce shortage and promote safe use of biosimilars. Personal note:My goal for 2019 is to get a biosimilar substitution notification law passed by my city council in the District of Columbia, working through our local medical society. Hold me to it.
ACR health policy statements
Volunteers on the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC) completed our annual update to the College’s health policy statements recently, and we’ll provide them to the ACR Board of Directors for approval in February. Special thanks to Dr. Chap Sampson for leading his fellow GAC volunteers through this project.
Patient involvement
Lawmakers need to hear from you on all of these issues, but they also need to hear from your patients. No one can tell their stories about how issues are affecting their lives like they can, and policy makers listen when constituents bring to light real-world examples. One way you can help get your patients involved in personal advocacy is to steer them to the ACR’s Simple Tasks website, which includes many resources they’ll find helpful. Start them off at the Simple Tasks website, with an opportunity to reach out to policy makers on these and other issues.
2019 Investment Strategy: Join RheumPAC
Make rheumatology advocacy one of your New Year’s resolutions. Join RheumPAC today. New members of Congress need to hear from the rheumatology community so we can further our progress on all the things I’ve mentioned. Invest now.
