EMS on the Hill: Vol. 3 No. 2, April 2009
EMS on the Hill
Welcome to the latest issue of EMS on the Hill, a newsletter representing the work of a broad group of EMS organizations dedicated to achieving positive change and recognition for emergency medical services at the state and federal levels. In July 2007, this group of organizations met to review the recommendations of the 2006 IOM Crossroads report and develop priorities and action items to help make these recommendations reality. This newsletter will provide updates on those action items, plus discuss other critical industry issues.
Stories in this article:
- EMS and the Stimulus
- For NEMSAC, Safety is Job Number 1
- Your Leaders, and What They're Up To
- How'd You Like Your EMS Experience
- Washington Watch
- Chiefs Looking Out For EMS in the Fire Service
- The EMS Managers of Tomorrow: A Vision for Developing Them Today
- Challenges For Up-And-Coming Leaders in Oregon
Presence on the Hill pays off, as EMS becomes eligible for federal funds
There were lots of notable aspects to the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February, but here's a big one: EMS is in line to receive some of its funds.
Thanks to the efforts of the industry's champions on Capitol Hill, language in the bill specifically makes EMS systems eligible for various grants and loans the historic legislation provides.
"Because EMS so often gets lost in the shuffle," says Lisa Meyer of EMS lobbyist Cornerstone Government Affairs, which represents Advocates for EMS and industry interests in Washington, "we made sure it was specifically listed as an eligible entity to receive some of this funding."
That funding includes billions for healthcare-related programs and causes. Among it:
- $10 billion to the NIH, including $8.2 billion for research;
- $2 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services for health information technology;
- $1.5 billion for building and equipping community health centers;
- $1 billion for Community Services block grants; and
- $1 billion for a Prevention and Wellness fund within the HHS' Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. This includes $650 million for community programs to reduce disease and $50 million to reduce healthcare-associated infections.
These funds will flow through the states, and that raises the stakes for EMS' involvement in state-level politics. Anyone wanting any piece of this pie better be getting acquainted with their relevant offices, officials and ways of doing business.
"EMS, or anyone who's interested in those dollars, is going to have to start working with their governors' offices, their health departments, whatever it is at the state level, to get qualified and write their applications," Meyer says.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act incorporated contents of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. These provisions are intended to promote adoption of health information technology (HIT), including electronic health records and the development of a national health information network by which electronic health information can be stored and exchanged. The HITECH Act provides funds for developing infrastructure and grants to help providers purchase and implement technology. Advocates offers a fuller overview of its contents, and more on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, at www.advocatesforems.org.
More Good News
Other processes in the nation's capital are moving slowly. With a new administration, new Congress, financial crises to attend to and numerous federal positions not yet filled, the budget process for fiscal 2010 is already behind schedule.
In March, however, Congress finally finished up its appropriations for fiscal '09, funding programs under the departments of Health and Human Services and Transportation, among others. And among the many Americans receiving assistance from Washington in these troubled times, EMS wasn't left out. Funding for a number of programs relevant to prehospital emergency medical services was increased.
