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0171450MinutesCoC Advocacy Committee MeetingJuly 18, 2019Washington, DCMembers PresentAlan Thorson, MD, Chair (American Cancer Society)Leslie Kohman, MD, Vice-Chair (Society of Thoracic Surgeons)Michael Bouton, MD (ACS Fellowship)Mary Lou Galantino, PhD, PT, MS, MSCE (American Physical Therapy Association)Linda House, RN, MSM, BSN (Cancer Support Community)Scott Kurtzman, MD (National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers)Joshua Mammen, MD, PhD (ACS Young Fellows Association)Shelley Fuld Nasso, MPP (National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship)Heidi Overton, MD (ACS Resident and Associate Society)Members Absent (had conflicting meetings)Sue Hedland, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW (Association of Oncology Social Work)Peter Hetzler, MD (American Society of Plastic Surgeons)Scott Kurtzman, MD (National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers)Larry Shulman, MD (American Society of Clinical Oncology)Mary Lou Smith, JD, MBA (National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers)GuestsMaria Baker, PhD FACMG MS LGC (National Society of Genetic Counselors)Sharon Lum, MD (ACS Fellowship)Barbara McAneny, MD (American Medical Association)Leticia Nogueira (American Cancer Society) Rowena Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP (Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association)StaffConnie BuraChris JohnsonAmelia SuermannWelcome and Introductions Dr. Thorson called the meeting to order and had everyone introduce themselves. Those CoC members who attended as guests, to include Drs. McAneny, Lum, Schwartz and Maria Baker, expressed interest in joining the committee. Connie will reach out to them after the meeting to confirm their participation. Review of June 2019 Meeting Minutes MOTION: To approve the June 2019 meeting minutes.ACTION: Carried.Discussion of Committee Goals, Objectives, and StrategiesDr. Kohman noted that on the last call that the committee members felt the in-person meeting would be a good opportunity to revisit the committee’s goals, objective, and strategies. The following items were discussed:The committee agreed, that with assistance from the College DC staff, they would focus on reviewing and possibly taking action to sign on to efforts as identified by the College, ACS CAN, and OVAC. The DC office staff are very engaged with these groups and would be able to assist the committee in identifying legislative priorities of interest for committee review. At the present time, the committee makes decisions on signing on to certain legislation as the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. In most cases, there is not enough time to seek endorsement of committee positions by CoC member organization representatives or the CoC Executive Committee. The DC office staff will advise if there is something controversial enough that may require higher levels of approval. In the meantime, the committee felt that we should reach out annually to the CoC member organization representatives to ask them to identify their cancer-specific legislative priorities for the year so that the committee is aware of them and can follow them and/or lend additional support. This communication could be distributed near the end of the year when organizations are preparing their priorities for the coming year. In order to increase the visibility of the CoC Advocacy Committee, more frequent articles will be included in the Cancer Program e-newsletter – The Brief – which goes out to the entire CoC membership and contacts at CoC-accredited cancer programs. Connie will work with the committee on future calls to determine newsworthy content to include. In addition, the committee recommended that we seek input from our constituents through The Brief and ask that they bring cancer legislative issues to the committee’s attention.Although not an official responsibility of the CoC State Chairs, the committee felt that it would be important to educate and engage those state chairs with interest in how to participate in legislative efforts at the state level. Chris Johnson from the DC office noted that there are currently several tool kits that have been created specific to 3D mammography, cancer screening, and tanning beds that could be shared with the CoC State Chairs. In addition, it was recommended that Chris put together a general toolkit on how state chairs can become involved in advocacy at the state level. Chris volunteered to pull something together. In addition, the committee felt it would be important to address this topic with the state chairs at their Town Hall meeting scheduled for October. ACS DC Staff Federal and State Legislative UpdatesAmelia introduced herself and reviewed the current federal cancer-related legislation for the 116th U.S. Congress. There are currently nine bills that Amelia is following closely that were shared with the committee. The most notable bill is the Cancer Care Planning and Communications Act which is being re-introduced by the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) next week. The CoC had signed on to a previous letter in 2018 which Shelley Fuld Nasso from the NCCS shared. She also provided a fact sheet about the Act and sought the committee’s support in signing on to the new letter. No action was taken by the committee. In addition, Maria Baker from the National Society of Genetic Counselors, asked the committee to support H.R. 3235, the “Access to Genetic Counselor Services Act of 2019” which was introduced in June and provides coverage of services furnished by genetic counselors under part B of the Medicare program. Amelia will add this bill to the tracking sheet and will follow it and provide future updates to the committee. Chris Johnson had to leave the meeting early and was not present to deliver the state legislative update, however, he distributed a summary of the 2019 top cancer state legislative issues focused on Tobacco 21, Sunscreen in Schools, Tanning Beds, and 3D Mammography. In addition, Chris distributed a lengthy spreadsheet that outlined cancer related state legislation that has been passed or enacted thus far in 2019. MeetingsAmelia reported that several committee members will be taking advantage of the new ACS Advocate at Home Program during the month of August to visit their legislators while back in their districts. Mary Lou Galantino praised the work of the DC office staff in assisting with setting up the visit and developing materials for her use. All committee members were encouraged to participate in this program and should reach out to Amelia if they are still interested. The program was capped this year due to staff resources but will continue to be offered to committee members on an annual basis.The committee chose mid-February 2020 as the time for their in-person planning meeting in Washington, DC. In addition, Amelia recommended a Hill briefing to educate legislative staff about the work of the Commission on Cancer which could then be followed by truncated hill visits. Amelia will work to identify some dates so that the committee members can get this confirmed on their calendars and start the planning process. New BusinessThere was no new business. AdjournThe meeting was adjourned at 4:45pm Eastern Time.? ................
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