LINDSEY CAPPS

Advocacy for increased Fiscal Year 2025 (FY'25) programmatic appropriations within S.4942/H.R. 9029, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY'25, which support OHSU's public missions in health, education and biosciences research. This includes increased investment for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including funding for cancer research, neurosciences research and the NIH BRAIN Initiative, and national primate research centers; the Agency for Health Care Quality and Research (AHRQ); health professions workforce development and diversity programs (HRSA Title VII and Title VIII and HRSA Centers of Excellence (COE)); HRSA Transforming Pediatrics for Early Childhood Program (TPEC); University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Total Worker Health Program; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and NIH to conduct public health research into firearm morbidity and mortality prevention; Office of Refugee Resettlement Survivors of Torture program.

Support for Congressional action to prohibit pharmaceutical manufacturer denials of 340B drug discounts to safety-net hospitals and other 340B covered entities, including advocating in support of S.5201/H.R. 7634, the 340B PATIENTS Act of 2024. S.5201/H.R. 7634 clarifies that drug manufacturers are required to offer 340B discount prices to covered entities regardless of the manner or location in which a drug is dispensed, including if a covered entity uses contract pharmacy to dispense 340B drugs to the entitys patients. Communicated support for 340B Drug Discount Program and resulting patient and community benefits provided through participating safety-net hospitals and other covered entities, and opposition to limiting the scope of the program and reducing access to drug discounts currently provided under the current program structure.

Support for extending telehealth and hospital and home programs, increasing Medicare investment in graduate medical education (GME), as the largest federal funding source for medical residency training; support for funding comprehensive health services under Medicaid; the benefits of Oregon's Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver and social determinants of health, including housing and food security; support for expanding supplemental Medicaid payments for workforce development in the health professions; and oppositions to cuts in payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals and opposing site-neutral payment policies.

Support for legislation establishing an essential hospital designation in federal law (H.R. 7397) for purposes of reimbursement of services provided under Medicare. Provided clinical expertise and faculty perspective on existing legal barriers to access to reproductive health services, contraception and abortion drugs. Provided perspective of OHSU IT leaders supporting further development of Health Information Exchanges (HIE), including the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), urging additional safeguards by HIEs to enhance patient care and protect patient privacy.

Support for the unique higher education needs of academic health centers in the education and training of health care professionals, and the diversification of the health care workforce. Advocated for increased funding HRSA Title VII and VIII programs, including preserving funding for HRSA Centers of Excellence program, which supports efforts by OHSU's Northwest Native American Center of Excellence to increase the number of American Indian/Alaska Native students enrolled in and completing graduate medical education.

Support for the use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research, including specific recommendations to US House and Senate appropriators to direct federal agencies such as NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration to develop a national plan for nonhuman primate research, especially in regard to nonhuman primate research workforce shortages and supply issues. Provided requested expertise on legislation unrelated to public national primate research, S.4206/H.R. 8164, the Captive Primate Safety Act. Legislation would prohibit private ownership of primates.

OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY