AASLD Members and Patient Advocates Bring Concerns About Liver Disease to Capitol Hill 

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Public Policy Update
By Lyle B. Dennis

March 18 and 19 marked the beginning of new era in AASLD’s evolution as a player in public policy as more than 30 AASLD members and patient advocates from six voluntary health associations went to Capitol Hill to support funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as well as to support health care reform that provides increased access to quality care.

Taking the lead in what is now billed as the first Annual Liver Capitol Hill Day, AASLD’s leadership and members were joined by representatives of the American Liver Foundation, the Asian Health Foundation, the Hepatitis B Foundation, the Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors, the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, and the PCBers Organization.

The program began with dinner on the evening of March 18. The speaker was Congressman Bill Cassidy, MD, from Louisiana. Congressman Cassidy is the first AASLD member ever elected to Congress. He trained at LSU and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the LSU Health Sciences Center. His remarks about the critical importance of AASLD members – and all persons who care about quality health care – becoming involved in the debates about funding and quality care struck home with many of the participants and provided a lot of inspiration for what was to come.

The following morning, participants gathered in the Cannon House Office Building and were briefed about both the process and the substance of the issues they would be discussing with Members of Congress and their staffs. As part of that briefing, Congressman Mike Honda of California, who chairs the Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus in Congress and has been very active on hepatitis B issues, stopped by to address the group and renewed his commitment to working closely with the liver community to address the important issues we were raising.

After the briefing, small groups went out to participate in previously scheduled appointments on both the House and Senate sides of Capitol Hill. They visited more than 35 offices throughout the day and had a series of successful and productive visits, discussing key issues and educating members and staff about liver diseases ranging from primary liver cancer to NAFLD to viral hepatitis to PBC.

At the end of the visits, many participants met again to de-brief about both the substance and the logistics of the day. AASLD’s leadership found the entire event to be an important step forward for the Association and will look to involve more members and more patients next year.

A special thanks to everyone who gave up their time to participate in this event. Among them are AASLD members, patient advocates, Congressmen Cassidy and Honda, and Erika Miller of Cavarocchi-Ruscio-Dennis Associates who handled much of the organizational and logistical activity for Capitol Hill Day – and no small amount of the issue development – for pulling off a large event without a hitch.

This electronic newsletter is a bi-weekly publication of AASLD and replaces the former bi-monthly print newsletter and weekly e-news. Members are welcome to submit articles and may send suggestions to atracy@aasld.org