The US Congress has returned to Washington, DC for a “lame duck session” to complete work before the end of the year. Two issues important for endocrine research are at stake: funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and funding for the Special Diabetes Program (SDP). Congress has not completed work on the FY 2025 appropriations process and SDP will expire if the Congress does not pass legislation to continue funding the program. Because of the short amount of time until the deadline, there is a risk that Congress will not complete work but rather will pass a temporary funding bill that will run through March and extend SDP only through the same period. The problem with this approach is that until permanent funding is established, NIH will not fund new grants and will also hold back a percentage of funding from existing programs. Consequently, the Endocrine Society is urging Congress to complete the appropriations process and attach SDP authorization to that before the December 20 deadline. Your voice will make a difference. We need all US members of the Endocrine Society who receive NIH funding to help us by joining our online campaign and sharing this message.
On Tuesday, November 12, the Endocrine Society called on Congress to pass legislation addressing diabetes and physician issues important to our members before the end of the year. We encouraged Congress to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), an important program which funds type 1 diabetes research and diabetes prevention and education for American Indians and Alaska Natives. SDP funding will expire on December 31 unless Congress acts. We have asked Congress to pass a long-term extension of SDP at $170 million per-program per-year. We also urged Congress to take action on two issues important to our clinician members. We asked them to pass legislation to avert the 2.83% cut to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and provide an inflationary increase to the MPFS tied to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI). The MPFS final rule includes a 2.83% payment cut to Medicare reimbursement, which is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2025 unless Congress takes action. Finally, we urged Congress to pass legislation providing a two-year extension of the Medicare telehealth waivers. These important waivers, which expire on December 31, ensure that physicians can deliver care via telehealth and audio-only visits. The Society will continue to advocate for Congress to address all of these issues in the coming weeks.
This week, the Society released a rule summary and final payment rates for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule for Calendar Year 2025. This annual rule updates payment policies and payment rates for Part B services furnished under the MPFS. Below are several highlights of the final rule.
On Tuesday, November 12, the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee (DMICC) met to discuss 15 proposals for research initiatives that could be supported in the next fiscal year (FY 2026-2027) through the Special Diabetes Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research (SDP). The DMICC provides guidance to assist the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) on prioritizing projects funded through the SDP, given limited availability of funds. Throughout the day, projects were evaluated to identify unique or novel opportunities to advance diabetes research, determine what proposals addressed problems that would not otherwise be addressed by other means, and if the proposals had the potential to lead to new strategies that would prevent, treat, or cure diabetes. A span of ideas was introduced for the committee to review, including identifying and understanding the biological underpinnings of T1D, advancing the development of therapies and devices to treat T1D, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to advance T1D research, and addressing complications and co-morbidities of T1D.
The SDP has supported critical research objectives that have advanced our understanding of T1D since its inception in 1998; however, the program must be reauthorized for the SDP to continue beyond the current expiration date of December 31, 2024. The SDP needs our help to extend funding for life-saving diabetes research. You can help support the SDP by joining our campaign to urge Congress to reauthorize SDP.
This past week, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates met in Orlando, Florida to establish policy positions on topics of importance to healthcare providers and patients. Endocrine Society delegates Amanda Bell, MD, and Daniel Spratt, MD attended the meeting to represent the Endocrine Society and advocate for issues important to endocrinology. During the meeting, we supported resolutions focused on women’s health, lowering prescription drug prices for patients, and improving access to care for incarcerated individuals. The AMA House of Delegates, which is the legislative and policy-making body of the AMA, meets twice a year to consider changes to AMA policy. A very special thanks to our delegates, Drs. Amanda Bell and Daniel Spratt, for attending the AMA meeting and representing the Society.
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We rely on your voice to advocate for our policy priorities. Join us to show our strength as a community that cares about endocrinology. Contact your US representatives or European Members of Parliament through our online platform. Take action and make a difference today.
