Statements and Testimony - 2003

• November 14, 2003 - ASM Letter to Medicare Conferees
  The ASM sent a letter to House and Senate Medicare Conferees urging them to oppose cuts that would adversely affect clinical laboratories, such as co-payments for laboratory testing, a freeze on cost of living adjustments to Medicare payments laboratory services, and/or further reductions in the reimbursement of laboratory tests covered by Medicare.

• October 23, 2003 - ASM Letter on the Implementation of the Select Agent Rule
  The ASM sent a letter to Ann Veneman, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture regarding implementation of the Interim Final Rule 7 CFR Part 331; 9 CFR Part 121 Possession, Use and Transfer of Biological Agents and Toxins.

• October 13, 2003 - ASM Letter Regarding Increasing Funding for the EPA Research Programs
  The ASM sent a letter to Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), ranking member recommending increased funding for EPA research programs in the FY 2004 appropriations bill. ASM sent a similar letter to the House Subcommittee Chair, Representative James Walsh (R-NY) and Ranking member Representative Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV).

• August 29, 2003 - ASM Responds to CMS/CDC Request Regarding Quality Controls for Antigen Tests
  PSAB's Committee on Professional Affairs responded to a request from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding ASM’s position on the current CLIA regulations that require quality control testing of microbial antigen detection tests that include an extraction step in their procedures.

• August 14, 2003 - ASM Assists CLIAC with Information on DTM Culture Media
  PSAB's Committee on Laboratory Practices responded to a request from the Clinical Laboratory Improvements Advisory Committee (CLIAC) regarding ASM's position on exempting dermatophyte culture media (DTM) from end-user quality control (QC) under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulations.

• August 1, 2003 - ASM Comments on 2003 Clinical Lab Fee Schedule
  The ASM submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding Transmittal AB-02-163, 2003 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule and Laboratory Services Subject to Reasonable Charge Payment Method.

• July 28, 2003 - Payment Determinations for Calendar Year 2004 for New Clinical Laboratory Tests
  Alice Weissfeld, Chair of PSAB’s Committee on Professional Affairs provided recommendations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding payment methodology for new laboratory tests to be included in the 2004 Medicare Laboratory Fee Schedule.

• June 30, 2003 - ASM Sends Letter to Powell Regarding Visa Issues
  On June 30, 2003 the ASM wrote to Secretary Colin Powell to ask the Department of State develop procedures and allocate resources necessary to assure prompt and appropriate action on visa requests for students and researchers seeking to study the microbiological sciences within the United States.

• May 7, 2003 - ASM Testimony on FY 2004 Budgets for CDC and NIH

• April 11, 2003 - ASM Comments on QC/Laboratory Director Draft Guidelines
  PSAB's Committee on Professional Affairs submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on itsdraft copy of the revised Interpretive Guidelines, Appendix C of the State OperationsManual, which applies to the CLIA regulations on quality control and laboratory director requirements that were published in the Federal Registeron January 24, 2003.

• April 1, 2003 - National Institutes of Health - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding NIH funding for FY 2004.

• April 1, 2003 - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding CDC funding for FY 2004.

• April 1, 2003 - National Science Foundation - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding NSF funding for FY 2004.

• April 1, 2003 - Food and Drug Administration - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding FDA funding for FY 2004.

• April 1, 2003 - U.S. Department of Agriculture - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding USDA funding for FY 2004.

• April 1, 2003 - Environmental Protection Agency - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding EPA funding for FY 2004.

• April 1, 2003 - Department of Energy - FY 2004 Testimony
  Appropriations statement regarding DOE funding for FY 2004.

• March 11, 2003 - ASM Letter to House and Senate Budget Committees on Support of Increased Funding for FY 2004 Budget Requests for Federal R&D Agencies
  The ASM sent a letter to members of the House and Senate Budget Committees supporting increased funding above the  budget requests for of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

• February 15, 2003 - Statement of Journal Editors and Authors Group on Scientific Publishing and Security

• January 31, 2003 - ASM Comments to the CDC on the Interim Final Rule on the Possession, Use and Transfer of Select Agents and Toxins

• January 22, 2003 - FDA Guidance Document on CJD/vCJD
  The ASM's Committee on Laboratory Practices submitted comments on the Food and Drug Administration's Draft "Guidance Document for Industry: Preventive Measures to Reduce the Possible Risk of Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) by Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products (HCT/Ps)."