The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed sweeping changes to the process to approve and administer all federal grant funding. The Endocrine Society believes the proposed changes pose serious threats to NIH research and has submitted formal comments to OMB, but we need your help to prevent this new rule from taking effect.
There are three actions that you can take to protect your research:
It is essential that policymakers hear directly from members of the scientific and medical community about the impacts of this rule. Your voice can help ensure that federal research funding remains grounded in scientific merit and continues to advance endocrine health and patient care. Please take action on one or more of these activities today!
Increasing access to affordable insulin is a top policy priority of the Endocrine Society and we continue to urge Congress to pass the INSULIN Act, bipartisan legislation that would cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 a month for people with private insurance and create a pilot program for the uninsured in ten states. Although the likelihood for passing the INSULIN Act this year originally was small, our advocacy is helping build momentum for the legislation in the United States Senate and now there are 28 bipartisan senators supporting the legislation introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee considered several pieces of health-related legislation. Prior to the markup, the Endocrine Society sent a letter to the HELP Committee urging the committee to consider and pass the INSULIN Act. The Society developed the letter and invited other diabetes advocacy organizations to sign. As a result of increasing interest in insulin affordability, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced an amendment that would have added the INSULIN Act to another bill under consideration. Although the Sanders amendment was approved by the HELP Committee in a bipartisan vote, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, canceled a final vote on the overall bill, saying he needed more information about the cost of the legislation. Chairman Cassidy indicated that he is open to considering the legislation at a future markup in July.
The Society will continue working with the bipartisan co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus to pass the legislation out of the HELP Committee this summer. We urge all Endocrine Society members to take action through our online campaign and ask their Senators to cosponsor and pass the INSULIN Act.
On July 1st, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will launch the Medicare Bridge Program to provide eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries with access to certain GLP-1 medications for weight loss for a $50 co-pay. To qualify for the program, Medicare beneficiaries must meet certain clinical criteria and the provider must submit a prior authorization request attesting that the beneficiary has met these criteria. More information about the Bridge Program, including the clinical criteria, information on submitting a prior authorization request, and other FAQs for providers can be found here on the CMS website. The Endocrine Society has urged Congress and the Administration to expand access to GLP-1 medications for people living with obesity, and we are pleased that CMS is initiating this program. We will continue to provide information as the Bridge Program is implemented in the coming months. We will also share additional educational information about the Bridge Program during our advocacy session to be held at the Clinical Endocrinology Update (CEU) meeting later this year.
As part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) United Funding Strategy and Plan to Drive Gold Standard Science, the NIH is seeking public input for proposed policy changes that will affect NIH-funded researchers. Brief descriptions of these two Requests for Information (RFIs) are below.
1. Proposal to Cap the Number of Simultaneous Research Project Grants per Principal Investigator
One of NIH’s goals is to maximize scientific productivity and innovation by increasing the number of investigators and project ideas that are funded. NIH is proposing a policy that would place a cap on the number of simultaneous research project grants (RPGs) that a Principal Investigator can support at one time and are seeking feedback on what the optimal number of grants to oversee should be. The agency believes that limiting the number of RPGs an investigator oversees will also broaden the distribution of funding to bring more talent into research and to increase the number of early-stage investigators it supports. The Endocrine Society, however, has concerns about this proposal setting arbitrary caps and moving away from funding the best science, and believes there are better mechanisms to support early-stage investigators.
2. Measuring and Rewarding Scientific Impact
To strengthen biomedical research, NIH is seeking input on how rigorous research that delivers value to the American people can be incentivized, measured, and rewarded. NIH has identified several indicators of scientific success, such as rigor and reproducibility, data sharing, training and mentorship, and foundational scientific exploration, that need defined and measurable metrics for progress and accomplishments. The agency also wants stakeholders to share any benefits or unintended consequences that may arise for investigators across different career stages, disciplines, and types of institutions.
The Endocrine Society will submit comments to these RFIs with guidance from the Society’s Research Affairs Core Committee. If you would like to share your thoughts for the Society to consider in our response, please send your feedback to [email protected] by Friday, July 31.
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.
