In the News

Within the health care and medical practice policy arenas, the scope and complexity of the issues affecting the urologic community may seem overwhelming. Mergers and acquisitions. Access to life-affirming care and the definition of "quality." Administrative burdens and defensive medicine. Physician training and patient safety.

Urologists are fortunate to have several organizations taking aim at each. The AACU, for one, is comprised of dedicated leaders who take an active role developing and promoting solutions that positively impact the urologist's patients, practice, and profession. Surveying the landscape as leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives swaps parties and governorships creep toward a 50/50 partisan balance, several opportunities to affect positive change stand out.

Federal, state prostate cancer initiatives

On the prostate cancer front, there are ongoing efforts to provide access to screening and improve the reliability of biopsy test results. Although the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation for prostate cancer screening improved in 2018, a fundamental problem with the composition of the Task Force remains; the members have no expertise in the related conditions and they seek no outside advice on literature review.

Also from the AACU: Merger mania requires protections for patients, providers

Therefore, the AACU continues to believe that passage of the USPSTF Transparency and Accountability Act is crucial to the health of all Americans. Former U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn championed this legislation as a member of the House. With support from UROPAC—Urology's Advocate on Capitol Hill, Blackburn's campaign for the Senate was successful. In 2019, the AACU will work with the bill's remaining sponsor, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), to re-introduce the legislation for consideration.

The State Advocacy Network, meanwhile, will strongly support legislation across the country that requires insurers to cover prostate cancer screening. Where testing is already a mandated benefit, moves should be made to make that coverage cost-free, along the lines of a bill in New York State that was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo late last year. An important ancillary effort to improve the accuracy of prostate biopsies will be undertaken through support of federal legislation requiring Medicare coverage for DNA Specimen Provenance Assay testing of any positive biopsy result. According to U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN), "it is estimated that 1.3% of patients are erroneously told they have prostate cancer when they do not... [DNA testing will] prevent invasive medical procedures, and save taxpayers money."