​On September 21, CME Coalition Senior Advisor Andy Rosenberg presented an update on behalf of the CME Coalition at Inform Connect’s Annual Med Ed & Grants (Virtual) Summit. His presentation slides can be found here. 

​In a letter to Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the CME Coalition endorsed a bill that would provide new grant funding for CME in rural and underserved areas. Introduced in the Senate on February 2, 2021, the Improving Access to Health Care in Rural and Underserved Areas Act (S. 201) would direct the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to award up to 100 grants for providing accredited CME to federally qualified health centers (FQHC) or rural health clinics (RHC). 

​On September 15, 2021, the Continuing Medical Education (CME) Coalition penned a letter of support to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) endorsing the Lower Costs, More Cures Act of 2021 (H.R. 19). Introduced in the House on April 22, this bill includes a provision that would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to advance education and awareness among health providers regarding biosimilars, including by developing and improving continuing education programs 

​On September 15, 2021, the CME Coalition sent letters of support to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) for the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act of 2021 (S. 2235/H.R. 2067). Introduced in both chambers earlier this year, this legislation would mandate CME for the prescribing of opioids and other controlled substances. It would also provide grant funding for professional associations to expand the integration of substance use disorder (SUD) education into the standard curriculum of health care education programs. 

​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."

On January 10, 2020, the CME Coalition's Andrew Rosenberg and Rockpoint's Tom Sullivan presented to the annual conference of the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) (see here for the slides). The presentation provided an overview of key topics of interest to stakeholders in the CME community, including the political dynamics in Washington, CME for MIPS, Open Payments, activity on Capitol Hill relating to CME, and various state action around proposed "gift bans." 

The CME Coalition has submitted comments to Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI) in response to their solicitation for comments on ‘Cures 2.0’ — an important next step in their efforts to advance medical research and foster innovation.  As the letter points out, policymakers have increasingly recognized that there is an important role for enhanced provider education to address discrete policy challenges.