AUA Announces New Legislative Priorities For 2014

LINTHICUM, Md., Feb. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following an Association-wide survey of its members, the AUA today announced its legislative priorities for 2014. The Association's Board of Directors approved the priorities during its annual winter meeting earlier this month.

"The AUA invested in engaging its members in the development of this list through a series of focus groups and in-depth online surveys to ensure that its priorities reflected urologists' needs and concerns," said AUA Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Dr. Jim Ulchaker. "While some items are issues for which we've been advocating for quite some time, others are new to the list, including medical liability reform and research funding."

More than 700 members participated in the research phase of this initiative, which included a qualitative survey, fielded in the fall of 2013.

This year's list of priorities includes:

• Promote viable strategies for sustainable growth rate (SGR) repeal and promotion of value in health care.
• Preserve access to appropriate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening.
• Advance reform of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation process.
• Preservation and appropriate use of the in-office ancillary services exception (IOASE) to the Stark Law.
• Oppose or defer implementation of ICD-10.
• Address workforce shortages in all urologic practice environments (i.e., community and academic practice), preserve access to timely and appropriate care, and advocate for increased Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding and resources for urology positions.
• Advocate repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) or modification of the current law to provide for Congressional oversight of their decisions, appointment of practicing physicians, and review by medical specialty societies.
• Promote medical liability reform.
• Promote urology/cancer research funding.

"In recent months, Congress has made exciting progress on many key issues important to urologists and we are hopeful that 2014 will offer more opportunities for significant change," Dr. Ulchaker said. "We look forward to advancing these issues with lawmakers on behalf of the AUA membership."

The AUA's list of legislative priorities guides the Association's activities on Capitol Hill and is reviewed and updated regularly. In 2013, one of the AUA's legislative priorities, urotrauma, was addressed by Congress and included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2014.

For more information about the AUA's legislative priorities, please contact Wendy Isett at 410-689-3789 or wisett@AUAnet.org.

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 20,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

SOURCE American Urological Association