This week, the Endocrine Society urged Congressional leadership to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program (SDP) at $200 million per-program per-year before the program expires on March 31. SDP plays a crucial role in funding research on type 1 diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes, the most expensive chronic disease in the United States. SDP is made up of two components. The first component, administered by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, funds type 1 diabetes research. The second component, administered by the Indian Health Service (IHS), provides treatment and education programs for American Indians and Alaskan Natives with type 2 diabetes.
Last December, congressional leaders reached an agreement on bipartisan healthcare legislation which would have funded SDP at $200 million for each component of the program for two years. Unfortunately, that legislation did not move forward, and SDP is currently operating on a short-term extension. The Endocrine Society is leading efforts in the diabetes community to advocate for a long-term reauthorization of the Special Diabetes Program. This week, we launched a new advocacy campaign for Endocrine Society members to contact their Members of Congress and encourage them to extend SDP; we urge you to join us in this important effort taking action today.
The Endocrine Society is advocating that Congress pass legislation to extend the existing Medicare telehealth flexibilities. Medicare beneficiaries are currently able to receive telehealth services, but the waivers in place are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2025 unless Congress passes legislation to extend them. At the end of last year, there was a bipartisan agreement for a telehealth extension, but the deal fell apart at the last minute. More recently, congressional offices have told us that a telehealth extension is still being worked out, although it is not clear what the legislative vehicle would be. The Society will continue to urge Congress to address this issue before March 31.
Despite court orders that require the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue to convene study sections and advisory councils to maintain the process of issuing research grants, we understand that the pace of grantmaking remains slow and uncertain for Endocrine Society members across the country. We have heard varying reports about whether study sections and councils are conducting meetings, and administrative and operational issues have created delays and cancellations without a clear path towards rescheduling. Amidst this uncertainty, there are also reports of graduate programs in biomedical sciences delaying admissions or reducing enrollment. The severity of these impacts to established research programs and the future scientific workforce underscores the need to tell Congress what would happen if your research programs go unfunded; policy makers will not know unless they hear from you! Please send your story to [email protected], detailing the impact on people, projects, and public health if funding from the federal government were to suddenly stop. Or, take action using our advocacy campaign and share your story directly with your congressional delegation!
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.
