WHAT'S NEW:
Register for the SPS Workshop!
President Signs Child Health Act
Speaker Requests Full GME Funding for Children's Hospitals
Progress on Medicaid DSH Restoration
Congress Moves on OPPS Help for Children's Hospitals

OTHER NEWS:
Family Opportunity Act of 2000
Child Health and Education
Hearing Promotes Childhood Cancer Research
Amicus Brief on DSH
Children's Research Protection Act Introduced in Senate
Federal Advocacy Agenda Focuses on Mission

FROM THE NEWSSTAND

N.A.C.H. CALENDAR

PRESS RELEASES

• The annual State Policy Services (SPS) Workshop is fast approaching. The annual State Policy Services (SPS) Workshop is fast approaching. This free workshop will be held November 13, 2000 at the Dallas/Fort Worth Hyatt Regency. You will hear about Florida's new impatient pediatric hospital standards, N.A.C.H.'s work on state DSH issues, and how a former children's hospital CEO has transitioned to his new job as state Medicaid director. For information about the program, contact Diane Wynn at dwynn@nachri.org. For registration information, contact Tami Gandorf. SPS Program and Registration Form.

• President Signs Child Health Act (P.L. 106-310) N.A.C.H. endorsed this legislation. It includes authorizations for several new federal child health grant programs, such as a pediatric research initiative in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), new funding for asthma prevention and treatment, new funding for autism research, and much more. The bill also provides for a four-year extension of the federal legislation that authorized funding for the GME programs of independent children's teaching hospitals. The House sent its bill to the Senate, where Sens. Bill Frist (R-TN) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) revised it for final passage by the Senate and again by the House in late September. Please write and call your Senators and Representatives to thank them for passage of the "Children's Health Act of 2000." Fact Sheet.

• Speaker of the House Recommends Full Funding of $285 Million for Children's Hospitals GME (CHGME) Programs In late July, the joing House-Senate Conference Committee on the FY 2001 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill agreed to include $125 million in federal funding for CHGME. This would represent more than a three-fold increase over the FY 2000 appropriation of $40 million. In September, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) recommended that Congress and the White House include in the final FY 2001 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill the full authorization of $285 million, the level of funding Congress authorized for FY 2001. More on GME.

• Progress on DSH Restoration Bills N.A.C.H. urges Congress to cosponsor four bills – H.R. 3698, H.R. 3710, S. 2299, and S. 2308 — to restore Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) funds, which otherwise will be cut in FY 2001 and FY 2001. The House Commerce Committee has unanimously approved stopping the Balanced Budget Act's (BBA) cuts in federal DSH funds in FY 2001 and FY 2002. The Senate Finance Committee is considering elimination of the BBA's DSH cuts for just FY 2001. N.A.C.H. urges children's hospitals to let Congress know how important DSH funds are to the hospitals' ability to serve as the pediatric safety net and how important these bills are. There are more than 130 cosponsors of the House bills and more than 25 Senate cosponsors from both parties.

• Congress Moves OPPS Help for Children's Hospitals HCFA delayed implementation of Medicare prospective payment system for outpatient services (OPPS) to August 1, 2000. The hospital community has strongly advocated for delays and both the beneficiary community and Congress have pushed HCFA to keep to the original timetable. The second in a series of periodic alerts on implementation of Medicare's new OPPS is now available and focuses on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) revised implementation timetable. Meanwhile, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are expected to approve a proposal to hold children's hospitals harmless from the potential negative impact of the Medicare OPPS.

• Family Opportunity Act of 2000 In March 2000, Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced S. 2274, the "Family Opportunity Act of 2000." This bill creates a state option Medicaid eligibility category allowing families of children with disabilities to purchase Medicaid coverage on a sliding scale, regardless of income level. The bill has broad bipartisan support, with over 75 Senators signing on as cosponsors. The House version, sponsored by Representatives Pete Sessions (R-TX), Fred Upton (R-MI), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Barrett (D-WI), introduced in July, has more than 100 House cosponsors. N.A.C.H. is actively supporting the "Family Opportunity Act." Please write and call your federal delegation and urge them to support and cosponsor the "Family Opportunity Act of 2000."

• Child Health and Education The link between health status and education is widely stated but it's harder to find studies documenting it than one might think. N.A.C.H. recently has written a one-page fact sheet, highlighting key facts that helps make the point. Fact Sheet: Children's Health Is Key to Their Ability to Learn.

• Hearing Promotes Childhood Cancer Research In recognition of Childhood Cancer Month, the House of Representatives Cancer Awareness Group sponsored a hearing last week. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), whose 9 year old daughter died of cancer last year, chaired the hearing. Five physicians and more than 25 parents who have either lost children to cancer or whose children are currently battling the disease, testified about their experiences. The witnesses urged congress to increase research funding for childhood cancers and improve access to cancer-related pediatric clinical trials, among other recommendations. According to Congresswoman Pryce, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children. Each school day 46 children are diagnosed with cancer, enough to fill two classrooms. For more information, go to the Childhood Cancer Month Web site.

• Amicus Brief on DSH N.A.C.H. joined eight other national hospital associations in filing an amicus brief with U.S. Supreme Court in support of the contention that states are required, under federal Medicaid law, to make disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments to eligible hospitals to help them provide health care services to low-income, underinsured, and uninsured patients. In the case of Children's Seashore House v. Waldman (for the state of New Jersey), the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Third Circuit ruled that Congress' elimination of the "Boren Amendment" in 1997 effectively eliminates a federal requirement that states make DSH payments to hospitals.

• Children's Research Protection Act Introduced in Senate This bill addresses "human subject" protections for children participating in clinical trials and establishes new funding for pediatric pharmacology training. It introduced in the United States Senate by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Mike DeWine (R-OH) on June 28, 2000. Fact sheet: Children's Research Protection Act.

• Federal Advocacy Agenda Focuses on Mission
  by Madilee Wnek
  Spring 2000 Children's Hospitals Today