ASCO’s Government Relations Committee establishes policy priorities on an annual basis. These priorities are updated as needed to reflect emerging issues:
Access to Care
ASCO is committed to ensuring that all people with cancer and cancer survivors receive the highest quality care. To fulfill this commitment, ASCO is dedicated to a variety of efforts to advance access to and delivery of high-quality cancer care including: advocating for public policy that ensures access to cancer care for the underserved, developing tools to help physicians and patients address the rising cost of cancer care, supporting efforts to reduce disparities in cancer care and outcomes, and working to maintain and build a strong and diverse oncology workforce to meet patient needs.
Latest News on Access to Care
Clinical Trials
ASCO supports a robust, federally-funded clinical trials system. ASCO supports changes to the NCI Cooperative Group Program, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its March 2010 report. ASCO believes it is important to encourage increased participation in clinical trials by making the system more efficient, prioritizing inclusion of the most promising science, and ensuring adequate reimbursement for the costs associated with participation. ASCO is actively engaged in promoting smooth implementation of the Affordable Care Act provision to require health insurance coverage for patients who enroll in clinical trials.
Latest News on Clinical Trials
Drug Shortages
The cancer community is experiencing severe and worsening shortages of many critical therapies. This is a complex problem with multiple causes related to regulatory and manufacturing issues that is affecting the care of people with cancer. ASCO is working with multiple stakeholders and policymakers to address these critical shortages and find solutions to help prevent future occurrences.
Latest news on Drug Shortages
Fair and Stable Reimbursement
Encouraging a practice environment where physicians are appropriately reimbursed for providing quality care is a top priority for ASCO. ASCO is working to remove the prompt pay discount from the average sales price, to find a permanent solution to the sustainable growth rate formula, as well to ensure future reforms do not harm physicians’ ability to provide quality care to their patients.
Latest News on Reimbursement
Individualized Care for Advanced Cancer
ASCO believes it is critical for physicians to initiate candid discussions about the full range of palliative care and treatment options soon after patients’ diagnosis with cancer. ASCO considers having these critical conversations is an integral part of the cancer care continuum and is working to encourage physicians to have these discussions with patients about end-of-life care and as well as to encourage Medicare to adequately support them.
Latest News on Individualized Care for Advanced Cancer
NIH/NCI/FDA Appropriations
Continued strong, sustained funding for the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration is vital. ASCO is advocating for sustainable funding for these agencies because they are critical to improving health treatments for all Americans, including eventually finding a cure for cancer.
Latest News on NIH/NCI/FDA Appropriations
Quality
ASCO is committed to providing oncologists with the necessary resources to ensure that every patient receives the highest level of cancer care. The quality of the care that an oncology patient receives is one of the most important aspects of a successful treatment outcome and the Society is seeking programmatic and policy solutions to ensure that every patient receives the best quality care available.
Latest News on Quality
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Last updated September 2, 2011