(Oct. 7, 2008) Caya Lewis, Deputy Staff Director for Health, on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, met with members of the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP), to discuss the prospects for Title VII reauthorization and health care reform in the next Congress.
AACOM representatives arranged this meeting with Lewis to follow up on the letter FASHP sent to Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Ranking Member Michael Enzi (R-WY) regarding Title VII reauthorization.
Crafting health care reform legislation that expands access to care is Chairman Kennedy’s top priority in the next Congress. Lewis made it clear that addressing the workforce issue has become an integral part of ongoing discussions, recognizing that expanded access will be meaningful only if there are enough providers available to treat beneficiaries. With respect to workforce matters, she noted that the Committee may address Graduate Medical Education (GME) as well as reimbursement inequities. The Committee, however, is still in the information-gathering phase of this process. Committee staff will begin drafting legislation after the November election and will bring a package to the new administration in January.
Lewis advised the group that Title VII reauthorization is likely to follow the main health care reform proposal next year, but added that the Chairman is committed to seeing these programs reauthorized, noting he has been a champion for the Title VII diversity programs.
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