In visits to Congress members and staff, more than 120 ACR/ARP members and patients urged action to improve patient access to quality treatment. The meetings included discussions about the importance of research funding, ensuring adequate Medicare reimbursement, protecting Medicaid, and making PBMs more transparent and accountable. It’s not too late to amplify their message.
On April 30, Rebecca Shepherd, MD, MBA, and Amanda Myers, MD, represented rheumatology in a live town hall on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, describing the benefits of apremilast and nintedanib for patients with rheumatic disease.
When ACR volunteer leaders, members and patient advocates head to Capitol Hill in May, they will urge members of Congress to protect Medicare and Medicaid against cuts, restore research funding and reform pharmacy benefit managers for better transparency and accountability.
The annual matching campaign will run through May, coinciding with the ACR’s Advocates for Arthritis event. If you have not made your 2025 donation yet, now is the best time to invest for the largest impact.
The ACR’s delegation to the American Medical Association House of Delegates is seeking ACR members who may be interested in serving as representatives to the Young Physician Section.
The Community Practice Council has been renamed the Independent Practice Subcommittee and now operates as a subcommittee of the Committee on Rheumatologic Care. The group will continue its mission with an enhanced platform and visibility within the College’s governance framework.
Changes announced April 1 will cut 10,000 positions at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and consolidate many department functions. The ACR is monitoring how these changes may impact regulatory issues of concern to ACR members.
As the ACR’s megaphone, the Communications and Marketing Committee helps get clear and accurate information into the hands of those who need it, whether that’s clinicians, researchers, educators or patients, says chair Howard Yang, MD, RhMSUS.
First-quarter donations have put RheumPAC in great shape to help build a Congress that supports the needs of the rheumatology community. Consider joining your colleagues today in support of the ACR’s Congressional champions.
This May, more than 120 ACR leaders, fellows and patients with rheumatic disease will converge in Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress on issues including protecting Medicare and Medicaid, National Institutes of Health research funding and pharmacy benefit manager reform.