​On September 15, 2021, the CME Coalition penned letters of support to Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Rep. David Trone (D-MD) endorsing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) 3.0 Act of 2021 (S. 987/H.R. 4341). Introduced in both chambers of Congress earlier this year, this measure would require prescribers of controlled substances to complete their CME course work every three years. It would also provide $5 million toward health education and training grants through the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). 

The CME Coalition has submitted public comments on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Opioid Analgesics Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (OA REMS) program to highlight the essential role of continuing medical education (CME) in educating prescribers and other health care providers on the treatment and monitoring of patients with pain. The central component of the OA REMS is a voluntary CME program for all health care providers who are involved in the management of patients with pain, including doctors and others who prescribe these products.

On Jun. 23, CME Coalition submitted a letter to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in response to his request for information (RFI) on pandemic preparedness legislation. CME Coalition Executive Director Chris Lamond explained that continuing medical education will play a vital role in educating clinicians on how to best diagnose and treat patients, noting that education of America’s health provider workforce has emerged as an acute area of need amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The letter also encourages Congress to provide additional funding to facilitate critical CME initiatives related to COVID-19, as well as future pandemic response. “…The total cost of educating America’s providers on the impact of COVID-19 on their practice is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars at least — a sum that simply cannot be absorbed by traditional funders of CME,” the letter states. “Congress should acknowledge the crucial role of CME for the nation’s health workforce by appropriating dedicated funding to facilitate continuing medical education initiatives related to COVID-19."

​The CME Coalition has issued a new compliance guide, Accredited CME Commercial Support FAQs, for use by accredited CME providers and commercial supporters. Accredited CME providers strive to provide CME content and materials to meet the needs of millions of healthcare professionals. For those accredited CME providers that receive commercial support from pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturers, ACCME-accredited CME providers accredited by the must abide by the ACCME SCS to ensure the independence and integrity of the CME program.