DC Advocacy Update

On June 4, hundreds of ACEP members participated in a tele-town hall on Gun Violence and Injury Prevention with Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA). Congressman Moulton outlined the progress on gun violence and injury prevention legislation in the 115th Congress, including H.R. 3999, the “Bipartisan Bump Stock Ban,” and H.R. 5576, the “No Fly, No Buy Bill. Many ACEP members actively participated on the call by asking questions regarding the likelihood of action in this Congress and how they can get involved and move legislation on common sense solutions that will keep our communities and families safer. The event was the sixth in an ongoing series of tele town halls offered exclusively to ACEP members to provide education and a platform for the discussion of current issues in Congress impacting the delivery of emergency care and patients. To hear an audio recording of the tele town hall, click here [I’ll get the link].

As Congress moves through the Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations process, ACEP has been working with more than 80 other medical, public health, and research organizations to seek $50 million in funding for CDC to conduct public health research into firearm morbidity and mortality prevention. However, the outlook for including this money remains uncertain. Both the House and Senate are working to complete all the appropriations bills in a timely manner and have discouraged any provisions that may be viewed as controversial.

Congress is also in the process of reauthorizing the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), which is set to expire at the end of September. The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee approved its bill, S. 2852, by a vote of 22 to 1 on May 23. We expect the House version of the bill to be introduced by the end of June. We have been focusing on four areas of improvement to the legislation, including: utilizing the expertise of the Emergency Care Coordination Committee (ECCC) to implement the law; enhancing regionalized capabilities and responses to medical emergencies; facilitating the use of military trauma teams in civilian trauma centers (the MISSION ZERO Act); and responding to shortages of essential emergency medications (EEMs). Improving the nation’s disaster preparedness medical response was one of ACEP’s priority issues during the 2018 Leadership and Advocacy Conference (LAC).

Brad Gruehn
ACEP Congressional Affairs Director