WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2016 – Radiation oncologists from across the United States convened on Capitol Hill yesterday to encourage members of Congress to invest in cancer research with sustainable and predictable funding and to protect patients' access to high quality cancer care through value-based physician payment models. The 95 doctors were in Washington for approximately 150 meetings with Congressional leaders from their home districts and states as part of the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 13th annual Advocacy Day.

ASTRO members emphasized four priorities as they met with legislators and Congressional staffers: (1) to invest in cancer research with sustainable and predictable funding; to protect patients' access to quality health care by (2) stabilizing Medicare payments while pursuing innovative models of physician reimbursement and by (3) ending physician self-referral abuse; and (4) to preserve funding and residency slots for graduate medical education.

Driven largely by Vice President Joe Biden's push to accelerate cancer research progress and the launch of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, research on treatments and cures for cancer has become a national conversation, and ASTRO members encouraged Congress to ensure radiation oncology is part of that discussion. Radiation therapy has been a safe, effective and powerful method of fighting cancer for more than 100 years, yet federal funding for research in radiation oncology remains well below the level of funding for other therapeutic modalities.
The research community is on the cusp of finding better treatment options for cancer patients, such as combination approaches using radiation therapy to jump-start a patient's immune system and enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Understanding how and why these combination therapies eliminate cancer cells is critical to matching the right treatments to the right patients, and that understanding necessitates sustained, predictable growth in funding that supports collaboration between the best scientists in far-reaching fields, including radiation therapy.

In addition, ASTRO members advocated for support of ASTRO-developed alternative physician payment policies that improve the value of health care and protect patient's access to high quality cancer care. ASTRO is soliciting public input on an alternative payment model for palliative treatment for bone metastases and will release additional models for public comment.

Association Viewpoints Homepage