Veteran's Health Bill Included in End-of-Year Spending Package

BALTIMORE, Dec. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Urological Association (AUA) today celebrates the inclusion of the Veteran's Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act in Congress' end of year spending package. This important bill supports the development and implementation of a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare program focused on coordinated and comprehensive care for veterans with prostate cancer.

The bill also directs the VHA to develop a national clinical pathway for prostate cancer and to design a Prostate Cancer Registry and Research Program. A clinical pathway is a tool based on multidisciplinary evidence that guides healthcare best practices for a specific condition or disease. The goal of a clinical pathway is to streamline and improve both quality and delivery of care for patients, resulting in improved outcomes for those patients. The registry created by this legislation would be specific to veterans receiving treatment within the VHA system.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 268,000 people were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022 alone. In addition, the National Institutes of Health reports that prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in the VHA. Thus, for the past several years, the AUA and its advocacy partners have been committed to finding a process to improve prostate cancer care for our nation's veterans.

"Over the last two congresses, the AUA has worked closely with patient advocacy organizations such as Veterans Prostate Cancer Awareness, Prostate Cancer Foundation and ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer to draft the legislation, find bill champions in both the U.S. House and Senate and usher it through the legislative process," said Robert Bass, MD, chair of the AUA's Legislative Affairs Committee. "As prostate cancer continues to be a growing problem amongst our veteran population, it is our hope that the VHA will be well-positioned to develop these clinical pathway models and improve research and evidence-based treatments for veterans across America."

The AUA applauds the leadership of Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Jon Tester (D-MT) as well as Representatives Neal Dunn, MD, (R-FL-02) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08) on this important issue.

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 nearly 24,000 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.

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SOURCE American Urological Association