ACS Bulletin - April 2015

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WHAT SURGEONS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT...

Surgeons began receiving this incentive payment after January 1, 2011, but it is set to expire at the end of this year.

The College will advocate to preserve and extend this program so rural patients will continue to have access to surgical care in shortage areas.

What do expiring ACA
provisions mean for
trauma care?

The ACA reauthorized and expanded several trauma programs. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the ACS and a number of other stakeholder organizations, the four trauma programs included in the bill have not received funding and are now expired or expiring. Of the four programs authorized in the bill, two expired on September 30,

2014—the end of the last fiscal
year. These programs would
have provided grants to states
for planning, implementing,
and developing trauma care
systems, and pilot projects to
design, implement, and evaluate
innovative models of emergency
care systems. The other two
provisions were the Trauma
Care Center Grants designed to
maintain the core missions of
trauma centers, compensate them
for losses from uncompensated
care, and provide emergency
support to centers at risk of
closure; and the Trauma Service
Availability Grants used by states
to address shortfalls in trauma
services and improve access to
essential lifesaving care, which
will expire on September 30.

The College has long advocated for funding to support trauma care, and the ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy is working with champions in Congress to reauthorize these programs so that efforts to secure funding can continue. For example, in the 113th Congress, the House of Representatives passed ACS-supported legislation, the Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act, but the bill stalled in the Senate.

The legislation has been
reintroduced in the 114th
Congress as H.R. 648, along with
companion legislation, the Access
to Life-Saving Trauma Care for
All Americans Act, H.R. 647. The
House Committee on Energy
and Commerce has reviewed and
approved both bills. At press time,
they were headed to the House
floor, where they were likely to be
passed with little opposition. The
College is working diligently to
inform senators of the importance
of these programs in order to
facilitate their passage. Enactment
of this legislation is only the
first step. If these bills achieve
passage and are signed by the
president, ACS advocacy efforts
will shift to the appropriations
process to try to secure funding
for these important programs.‡

How can surgeons help
advocate for extending these
important programs?

Surgeons can help by letting their representatives and senators know that these programs are important to them and their patients. The College provides many educational programs and resources to facilitate this type of activity, including the following:

• The annual Leadership & Advocacy Summit, which will take place April 18–24 this year (more information can be found at www.facs.org/advocacy/participate/ summit)

• The SurgeonsVoice website (www. surgeonsvoice.org), which contains issue briefs and draft e-mail communications to send to your congressional delegation

•Occasional e-mail alerts regarding
time-sensitive votes
Consider taking advantage
of these opportunities to let
Congress know which ACA
and other health care programs
are important to you and
the patients you serve. ♦ ‡American College of Surgeons website.