Federal Focus - October 2012

Congressional Agenda as Election Approaches In September, Congress passed and the President signed into law a Continuing Resolution that will keep the federal government and its programs operating for the next six months. This was necessary because Congress did not pass its twelve appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year, October 1. As a result, priorities for the MS community such as funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and MS research in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) are not likely to be determined for quite some time. Congress could finalize funding before the end of 2012 or wait until after the new Congress is sworn in next year. Their course will at least partly be determined by the outcome of the November elections. Weighing on Congress’s mind are the across-the-board cuts known as “sequestration” scheduled to take effect in early January 2013. Sequestration is required under the Budget Control Act because the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “Super Committee”) failed to reach a long-term compromise to reduce the federal deficit. The cuts will total $1.2 trillion in federal savings over the next ten years, with half of the cuts coming from defense spending and half from non-defense spending. Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare beneficiaries are exempt from these cuts, but Medicare providers could face up to a 2% reduction each year. In mid-September, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report estimating the amount each federal agency would be cut. Under sequestration, many of the key healthcare agencies would be adversely affected. For example, OMB estimated that the NIH would face $2.52 billion in cuts and the Food and Drug Administration would lose $318 million. The Society joined over 3,000 national, state, and local organizations in a letter to Congress urging them to work with the President to avoid sequestration and protect non-defense discretionary programs that support important work like medical research and public health as much as possible. There is a small group of Senators talking and trying to reach a comprehensive and more specific deficit reduction that could delay sequestration, but consensus for now is far off and will also likely be impacted by the election. Medicare Prescription Drug Open Enrollment – Act by December 7 If you receive prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D, now is the time to review your coverage choices and change to another plan-- if you need to. Medicare Part D’s Open Enrollment period begins on October 15th and ends on December 7th. This is the only time you can switch Medicare prescription drug plans during the calendar year unless you qualify for a special enrollment opportunity. Current enrollees should have received a notice from their plan if any changes are planned regarding the amount they will have to pay in premiums or out-of-pocket expenses or changes to the formulary (the list of medications the plan will cover). If you did not receive such a notice, you have the right to request it from your plan. To learn more about Medicare Part D in English or Spanish, see the official website. To speak with an MS Navigator, call us at 1-800-FIGHT-MS (1-800) 344-4867.