The Latest in ASTCT Advocacy: March 2024
Advocacy at the Tandem Meetings Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT® and CIBMTR®
Advocacy remains a top priority in the space of hematopoietic stem cell transplant, which was evident at the 2024 Tandem Meetings. Opening remarks by Dr. Alan Hasan mentioned the importance of advocacy in this space, along with other presenters throughout the week.
ASTCT and NMDP Access Initiative Workshop at the Tandem Meetings Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT® and CIBMTR®
The ASTCT and NMDP ACCESS Initiative Workshop took place at the Tandem 2024 Meetings on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. Speakers included Dr. Jeffery J. Auletta, MD; Stella M. Davies, MBBS, PhD, MRCP; Ellen Beaver; Sanghee Hong, MD; and Delilah Robb, MPH.
The session started with an introduction to the ASTCT-NMDP ACCESS Initiative. This was followed with an overview and instructions on signing up for the initiative. Also discussed were Medicaid coverage gaps for transplants and cellular therapies by state. Next, there was a discussion on patients who do not undergo transplants, aiming to understand the demographics and reasons behind this trend. Finally, the session concluded with a presentation on implementing the Health Equity Toolkit in practice to achieve health equity in the field.
Advocacy Awards at ASTCT and NMDP Tandem Meetings Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT® and CIBMTR®
ASTCT awarded its inaugural Advocacy Awards at Tandem 2024 to members who have shown a commitment to advocacy at a federal level on behalf of the Society. Congratulations to ASTCT Advocacy Award winners Dianna S. Howard, MD, of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Ellen Fraint, MD, of Nemours Children's Health. Howard accepted the Advocacy Award and Fraint accepted the Junior Advocacy Award.
Recognizing Robin Roberts' Dedication: 2024 ASTCT Public Service Award for Exemplary Patient Advocacy
The 2024 ASTCT Public Service Award honors the patient advocacy work of Robin Roberts. Robin Roberts is the versatile co-anchor of America's top-rated morning news program, Good Morning America, with more than 30 years of experience as a producer, reporter and anchor in radio and television. In 2012, Roberts received a life-saving blood stem cell transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Over the past 10 years, Roberts has been an advocate for the NMDP Registry. Roberts uses her platform to raise awareness and encourage thousands of people to join the registry. More than 140 of those individuals have gone on to donate life-saving blood stem cells to patients in need.
ASTCT Advocates Push for Life-saving Legislation: NMDP's Advocacy Hill Day
ASTCT Government Relations committee members Dr. Dianna S. Howard and Dr. Clark Alsfeld advocated at the Nation’s Capitol for life-saving legislation for patients with blood disorders and cancers, in support of NMDP's Advocacy Hill Day. They requested that Congress maintain funding for the C.W. Bill Young Transplantation Program for FY24 with a $2 million increase for FY25 appropriations. The group also sought Congressional support for the Lifesaving Leave Act, H.R. 3024, which will allow more donors to say yes when they get the call that they could be a life-saving match for a patient in need by ensuring bone marrow and blood stem cell donors nationwide have up to 40 non-consecutive, unpaid hours of leave without a risk to their jobs.
New Medicare Coverage Decision for MDS Patients in Need of Allogeneic HSCT
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a revised National Coverage Determination for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) for Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). Read the updated coverage language and analysis to understand what patients are eligible for transplant going forward.
2024 Request for Information (RFI) Forms Now Accessible on ASTCT Website
The 2024 RFI forms are now available on the ASTCT website. These forms are developed by a dedicated committee and reviewed by many insurance companies and managed care organizations.