ePolicy News July 2024

ASCP’s AMA Delegates Represent Pathologists’ Interests at AMA Meeting … and Receive a Surprise 
ASCP delegates exemplified leadership and supported the interests of the pathology and laboratory medicine profession at the American Medical Association 2024 Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates. In recognition of their successful advocacy efforts, they were awarded the 2024 ASCP President’s Award. Learn about the issues they addressed. Read more.

ASCP, GME Coalition Weigh in on Congressional Graduate Medical Education Initiative
ASCP and 50 other medical societies are supporting a Congressional bipartisan initiative to invest in training more physicians. This effort is desperately needed as the demand for physicians outpaces supply and the patient population and physician workforce age. Read more.

National Academies’ Report Examines Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has convened an expert committee to review major drivers of healthcare disparities, examine successful and unsuccessful interventions, and make recommendations to advance health equity. The report aligns with ASCP’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and is supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Institutes of Health. Read more.

 ASCP Endorses Legislation to Address Public Health Infrastructure
ASCP has endorsed the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act, which seeks to address chronic underfunding of the state, local, tribal and territorial public health infrastructure. If approved, the program would award grants to state and territorial health departments, and to local health departments serving over 500,000 people, based on a formula determined by factors including population size, burden of preventable disease and disability, and poverty rate. Read more.

Take Action! Help Improve Medicare Payments
ASCP is asking ASCP members and nonmembers alike to urge Congress to fix the Medicare Physician and Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedules. Payment cuts and the lack of an inflationary adjustment means payment rates for pathology and laboratory services have declined significantly over the last two decades. With insurers benchmarking their rates to these fee schedules, reforming these fee schedules is essential. Discover how you can help! Read more.

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