IMPORTANT UPDATES FROM THE
CAMPAIGN TO END OBESITY
1 –
Representatives Blumenauer, Kind and Porter
introduce resolution to identify opportunities to
address obesity in all of Congress’s work.
The Campaign to End Obesity
applauds the leadership of Representatives Earl
Blumenauer (D-OR), Ron Kind (D-WI), and Jon
Porter (R-NV) for introducing
H
.
Res
. 1244 that
resolves to address the obesity epidemic by
identifying opportunities to “increase access to
and promotion of nutrition, physical activity, and
health care in all of Congress’s
work
.”
The resolution,
which already has five additional co-sponsors
recognizes the urgency and complexity of the
obesity epidemic; and commits to considering
opportunities for addressing the obesity epidemic
such as improving nutrition, increasing physical
activity, and expanding access to care in all
major legislative
action.
We encourage all
House Members to sign on to this commitment which
sends a critical message about the importance of
addressing obesity across the policy landscape.
For additional information, including
co-sponsorship opportunities, please contact
Christa Shively in Representative Blumenauer’s
office at (202) 225-4811.
2 –
Senators are encouraged to sign onto Senators Bayh
and Alexander’s “Dear Colleague” letter to Health
and Human Services Director
Leavitt.
Senators Evan
Bayh (D-IN) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have begun
to circulate a “Dear Colleague” letter to
HHS Secretary
Leavitt.
The intent of the letter is to encourage
HHS to update
the National Institute of Health’s National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute’s “Clinical Guidelines on
the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of
Overweight and Obesity in
Adults”.
The National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has signified an
intent to reexamine these guidelines but the
process has been delayed and the guidelines are
already more than 10 years out of date.
Current guidelines are crucial to developing sound
healthcare policy in regards to obesity. Thus, the
intent of the “Dear Colleague” is to ensure that
the guideline update does move forward in the most
efficient manner possible.
If you are
interested in learning more about or signing onto
the letter to NIH, please contact Sarah Kyle with
Senator Bayh at (202) 224-5623 or Mary-Sumpter
Johnson with Senator Alexander at (202)
224-2915.
3 -
House Members are encouraged to sign onto
Representatives Kind, Blumenauer, and Porter’s
letter to CMS regarding Medicare Coverage of
Bariatric Surgery for Treatment of the Morbidly
Obese.
On February 21,
2006, CMS issued its National Coverage Decision
(NCD) regarding bariatric surgery for the
treatment of morbid obesity within the Medicare
program. In its NCD Memo, CMS stated that certain
bariatric surgical procedures are “reasonable and
necessary for Medicare beneficiaries who have a
body-mass-index (BMI) > 35, have at least one
co-morbidity related to obesity, and have been
previously unsuccessful with medical treatment for
obesity…” provided they are performed in bariatric
surgery centers certified by either the American
Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery or the
American College of Surgeons.
Despite this
coverage ruling, many Medicare Administrative
Contractors (MACs) are putting forward excessive
barriers which impede access to bariatric surgery
beyond those intended by the coverage
determination. The letter calls on CMS to
encourage, educate and instruct the Medicare
Administrative Contractors regarding the agency’s
intent behind the coverage determination so that
eligibility standards are appropriately applied to
all Medicare beneficiaries.
If members are
interesting in learning more about or signing onto
the letter, Contact Kate Spaziani with
Representative Kind at 202-225-5506 or kate.spaziani@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
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