On September 25-26, more than 130 oncology care providers from across the United States will be on Capitol Hill for the 2019 ASCO Advocacy Summit. The society’s advocates will meet directly with Members of Congress and their staff to ask for their support for policies that improve access to high-quality, high-value care for people living with cancer.

ASCO members who won’t be on Capitol Hill are encouraged to support their colleagues’ efforts by sending messages to lawmakers through ASCO’s ACT Network urging them to:  

• Improve Clinical Trial Access for Medicaid Patients – The CLINICAL TREATMENT ACT (H.R. 913) would improve access to clinical trials by guaranteeing coverage of the routine care costs of clinical trial participation for Medicaid enrollees with a life-threatening condition.
• Address Prior Authorization Burdens – The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 (H.R. 3107) would help protect patients from unnecessary care delays due to the prior authorization process by requiring Medicare Advantage plans to provide “real time” authorization for routinely approved services.
• Protect Appropriate Patient Care – The Safe Step Act (H.R. 2279) would make reforms to step therapy protocols to protect patients’ timely access to potentially lifesaving medications.
• Foster Continued Success of MACRA – Action is needed this year to replace the upcoming payment freeze so that cancer care providers can sustain their practices and invest in more efficient models of care delivery that better serve Medicare beneficiaries.

This year’s Advocacy Summit will also feature remarks by Members of Congress and presentation of the “Congressional Leadership Award,” an annual award to acknowledge Members of Congress who champion policies to improve research and the delivery care for patients with cancer. ASCO will also present the “Advocate of the Year” award to an ASCO member who has demonstrated exceptional advocacy efforts on behalf of individuals with cancer and their cancer care teams.

Ahead of the Summit, on September 19th, ASCO is participating in the Rally for Medical Research, where the society will support a broad coalition of advocates to ask Congress to continue to invest in medical research and provide robust, sustained, and predictable increases in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2020 and beyond.

Use the hashtag #ASCOAdvocacySummit to lend your voice to the conversation and to see photos and updates from the Summit.

Bookmark ASCO in Action to stay up-to-date on all of ASCO’s advocacy efforts.