Federal Focus - December 2012

Activist Read the MS Activist Blog Chapter Contacts for State Issues Issues Briefs and Background National MS Society Homepage Take Action on Important End-of-the-Year Policies Before heading home for the holidays, Congress has several important items to tackle and complete before early next year. Two of these are particularly vital to the MS community and we urge you to take action and email your members of Congress about them today. One important must-do for Congress is to extend an exceptions process so that Medicare beneficiaries can continue to have access to therapy services. In an effort to save money, Congress passed legislation in 1997 capping the outpatient physical, speech, and occupational therapy services to which Medicare beneficiaries are eligible each calendar year. Because this placed an undue burden on many individuals with MS and other diseases whose annual costs for these services exceed the cap, Congress has consistently acted in a bipartisan manner to extend an exceptions process whereby beneficiaries can ask for services necessary to keep them healthy and functional to be covered. If Congress doesn’t act on this before the end of the year, the exceptions process will go away and access to therapy services will be threatened. Another significant focus of Congress is how to reduce the federal deficit. Across-the-board cuts are slated to take effect in January 2013, but Congress and the Administration are looking at alternatives to avoid that approach. This could take several forms, but regardless could have serious implications for MS research funding and programs important to people with MS, including Medicare and Medicaid. Changes are necessary, but as Congress considers options for deficit reduction, it is important to educate them about the federal programs that directly impact our community. Be sure to take action today—by clicking here, you can email your members of Congress and urge them to consider our priorities before the end of the year: extend the exceptions process for therapy and protect MS research funding, Medicare and Medicaid. Happy Holidays The National MS Society wishes each and every one of you a very happy holiday season. We continue to face economic challenges in our country and occasional opposition but despite these obstacles, MS Activists remain strong and true to our mission of ending MS forever. In 2012 alone, MS Activists sent over 25,000 email messages to Congress urging support of various policies important to our community and we were heard. Progress would not be possible without the dedication and tenacity of MS Activists. Happy holidays and we look forward to another great year in 2013.