The current lack of coordination between three dozen federal agencies for diabetes programs is one item that can be fixed by the current 114th Congress. The National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act (H.R.1192/S.586) would create a commission to help bring these agencies together and provide recommendations, support, and programs for all Americans with diabetes and the 86 million Americans who have prediabetes.
House Passed, But Stuck in HELP Committee
This bill passed the House on November 14, 2016, and was sent to the Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).It's still there. Without a discharge from this committee, it will never see the Senate floor and be voted upon before a new Congress is sworn in (and this Act would start from zero!).We Need Senator Lamar Alexander to discharge this bill from this committee. (He's the chair.) Once that's done, it can be brought to the Senate floor, where it has 33 cosponsors, and then off to be signed by the President to become law.
Why is it Stuck?
We've gotten word from our colleagues at AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) that despite their meetings with leadership, the CURES Act and the upcoming ACA issues are pushing this bill to the back burner. The claim is that no more committee markups will be scheduled.The diabetes community can't push this disease to the back burner. We need to help the HELP Committee leadership understand the benefit to not only our community but the U.S. health care system as well if this bill passes.
Let's HELP the HELP Committee.
Click here to send a message to your Senators, asking them to contact Senator Lamar Alexander, the Chair of the HELP Committee, and ask him to discharge this bill from HELP so that it can be voted upon by the Senate.To learn more about the bill, click here.To learn what DPAC has to say about the bill, click here.To learn what AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) has to say about the bill, click here.DPAC was honored to have Dr. George Grunberger for an Ask An Expert discussion on this bill. You can watch the archived presentation here.