To prepare for the CAP’s annual Hill Day, CAP members discussed strategies for how they will engage their members of Congress at the Pathologists Leadership Summit on April 13-16. CAP Advocacy leaders prepared pathologists to lobby Congress on three main policies affecting the specialty: A long-term fix for Medicare cuts to pathology services, a long-term fix to stabilize clinical laboratory services reimbursements, and greater immigration flexibilities for physicians so they can continue to practice in the United States – especially in health care shortage and rural areas.

CAP members not attending the Pathologists Leadership Summit can support their colleagues in Washington, DC, by taking action remotely. The CAP sent an action alert to members on April 15 urging them to contact their legislators on these three main policies.

In his opening remarks, CAP President Donald Karcher, MD, FCAP, described the significance of pathologists advocating for their profession and educating legislators on the impact of their payment policies.

“With the ever-evolving demands and challenges placed on pathologists, it can be difficult to stay current with the trends and latest issues affecting our specialty. The Pathologists Leadership Summit is the only pathology meeting where you will learn how to harness your individual voice and strengthen our collective power to effect change in your practice, patients, communities, and the profession,” Dr. Karcher said.

Diana Cardona, MD, FCAP, vice-Chair of CGPA and Todd Askew, senior vice president of the Advocacy Group for the American Medical Association (AMA) co-led a session about shifting our focus to broader Medicare physician payment reform. The session discussed how the CAP is working with the AMA to push for a Medicare Inflationary Update for physicians, and improvements in the physician fee schedule budget neutrality requirements.

Gregary Bocsi, DO, FCAP, Chair of the Quality and Clinical Data Registry Affairs Committee and Mary Le, MD, FCAP, Vice Chair of Federal State Affairs Committee co-lead a session about how The Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA) will enable sustainable reimbursement for laboratory services that will support the strong clinical laboratory infrastructure needed to protect patient access and public health, while fostering innovation to improve patient care.

Dr. Cardona and Matthew Foster, MD, MMM, FCAP Chair of Federal and State Affairs Committee co-lead a session on how the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act would reauthorize the Conrad 30 waiver program for three years, make improvements to the program, and increase the number of waivers granted to each state which would allow non-US International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to provide necessary patient care immediately upon finishing their training.

Dr. Karcher, Joe Saad, MD, FCAP, Council on Government and Political Affairs Chair along with Helena Duncan, CAP Senior Director of Quality and David Steury, Health Policy Director for Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-D) participated in a timely topic discussion about the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) final rule on laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), the CAP’s position on the rule and what this means to the broader laboratory community.

Over 150 meetings with CAP members and lawmakers on Capitol Hill will take place on April 16.

Advocacy Update will provide more coverage of the Pathologists Leadership Summit in the next issue.