15th Annual ASCLS Legislative Symposium

Extract

Another successful ASCLS Legislative Symposium was held March 17 and 18, 2003, co-sponsored by CLMA. The Hill visits were done in collaboration with the Clinical Laboratory Coalition (CLC), which held a ‘fly-in’ on March 18. The CLC is a group of professional associations that lobbies together on legislation of interest to the laboratory community, especially issues of reimbursement for laboratory services.

Over 85 participants representing 38 states attended educational sessions on Monday, March 17. These were intended to familiarize attendees with the issues which would be part of the lobbying efforts, to provide background education on other bills that they might be asked about at Congressional and Senate offices, and to educate them on how to lobby effectively.

As is typically the case, about half of the participants were attending the Legislative Symposium for the first time. Attendees ranged in experience from four clinical laboratory science (CLS) students to a handful of members who have attended every year for the 15 years of this event.

The program also included a presentation by Judy Yost, Director of the CLIA program for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who presented a summary of the CLIA regulatory changes that were published in the January 24, 2003 Federal Register. (See Washington Beat column in the Spring 2003 issue of Clinical Laboratory Science.)

On Tuesday, March 18, participants made visits to the offices of their Senators and Congresspersons, including the member of Congress from the district where they live, as well as others…